PARC: Success Story

Silicon Valley office environments have a reputation for being “non-traditional.” It’s entirely common for offices to contain spaces with vintage arcade games, meditation and yoga rooms, and open floor plans with “fun zones.” Competition is fierce for highly skilled workers, and companies are constantly upping the ante with job perks. Many tech companies naturally think outside the box, but this isn’t a new phenomenon for PARC – especially as it applies to the workspace.

Rewind the clock back to the 1970s, when Xerox PARC was a new Stanford Research Park tenant. Even then, PARC eschewed traditional working environments and instead created a working space that allowed for collaboration and an easy exchange of ideas; this included a lounge that had bean bags where employees could hang out and brainstorm. It seems quaint now that bean bags were so revolutionary in that era, but the bean bags were symbolic for a whole new way of approaching research and problem solving.

The early collaborative environment at PARC led to such creations as the laser printer; Ethernet networking; the personal workstation (which spawned personal computers); and the graphical user interface (GUI), to name a few. PARC was so revolutionary in its day that InfoWorld identified PARC as one of the “Top 12 Holy Sites in IT.”

PARC continues to revolutionize at Stanford Research Park

Since its inception, PARC has continued to provide technology, best practices, expertise, R&D services, and intellectual property to companies, startups, and government agencies around the world. The forward-thinking, groundbreaking R&D that originates at PARC can still be accredited to its inspiring work space.

There are currently more than 150 employees who research, tinker, develop, invent, and build inside the 200,000 square foot facility at Stanford Research Park. PARC remains a forward-looking and inspiring workplace, with easy access to the outdoors from every floor, windows in every office, local art adorning the walls, comfy couches, and creative toys readily available to continue fostering the creative and innovative spirit that PARC is known for. Their formula seems to be working very well: PARC holds approximately 2500 patents and files an average of 150 patents per year.

PARC remains at the forefront of technological breakthroughs in transportation, electronics, and energy, and its innovations and research send ripple effects throughout the industry. Although PARC is very much a global company, it remains rooted in Silicon Valley. PARC chooses to remain in the heart of Silicon Valley at Stanford Research Park, due to its proximity to global enterprises, universities, startups, and, of course, the number of venture capital firms within a few miles of Stanford Research Park.

Signaling a new chapter, PARC combined with SRI International in 2023. Through this combination, two Silicon Valley leaders will build on their own legacies and together create the next set of technological breakthroughs.