The word “ironic” hardly seems sufficient to describe this development.
Zoom, which came into its own during the pandemic by enabling people to work from home, is notifying most staffers that they need to return to the office at least a couple of days a week.
Like other tech companies, San Jose-based Zoom has determined that things would be better if most of its 7,400 employees were back in their cubicles part of the week.
“We believe that a structured hybrid approach — meaning employees that live near an office need to be on site two days a week to interact with their teams — is most effective for Zoom,” a company spokesperson said.
Google, Amazon and other tech heavyweights have come to similar conclusions, transitioning from remote work to hybrid schedules for most staffers.
But if any company should be committed to a work-from-home structure, it’s Zoom.
The company’s video-chat platform played an indispensable role during the pandemic, making remote work not just feasible but also effective.
So for Zoom to announce (or imply) that the days of remote work are ending, that’s a pretty big deal.
It underlines the sentiment from many if not most executive suites — that having worker booties in chairs is preferable to trusting workers to remain busy in abstentia.
It also reflects the fact that Zoom’s pandemic glory days are over. In February, the company sacked about 15% of workers to cut costs.
Now Zoom faces a potential backlash from employees who have grown accustomed not just to working remotely but also being at the forefront of the remote-work movement.
The New York Times cited one unnamed Zoom employee as saying the get-back-in-your-cubicle decision isn’t going over well.
“During a tense meeting last week about the return to office policy, held on Zoom, Eric Yuan, the chief executive, faced a series of questions from employees who expressed frustration about the time and money they’d waste while commuting,” the paper reported.
And that potentially means a surge in traffic to another tech stalwart: LinkedIn.
