In an ironic turn of events, Zoom has started calling its employees to work in the office two days a week.
Background
The company, which was at the height of the pandemic the go-to solution for work from home across industries, is demanding employees return to the office to better utilize its technologies and support customers.
A spokesperson for Zoom stated, “We firmly believe that a thoughtfully designed hybrid model – one that facilitates in-person engagement for our proximity-based teams – will drive optimal outcomes for Zoom. Leveraging our own technological prowess, we can further fuel innovation and cater to our global clientele.”
New rules
“We believe that a structured hybrid approach—meaning employees that live near an office need to be onsite two days a week to interact with their teams—is most effective for Zoom,” a spokesperson said.
Employees who live near a Zoom location must be on-site two days a week.
More specifically, staff residing within 50 miles (or 80 km) of one of its nine offices must come to work in-person at least two days a week.
Rationale
With this approach it will be in “a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate and support our global customers.”
It follows fellow Silicon Valley giants such as Google, Salesforce, and Meta which have also started recalling workers back to offices.
Connection and collaboration are the key reasons behind this shift.
“We’ve heard from Googlers that those who spend at least three days a week in the office feel more connected to other Googlers, and that this effect is magnified when teammates work from the same location,” wrote Google head of people Fiona Cicconi in a memo announcing the company’s in-person shift.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared similar views, saying “[O]ur hypothesis is that it is still easier to build trust in person and that those relationships help us work more effectively.”
Pre-pandemic highs
Zoom’s video-conferencing software became a hit in the pandemic with various industries turning to it for virtual communication..
Its stock skyrocketed during the first year of the pandemic, from $89 a share in early February 2020 to an all-time high of $559 in October.
Return to old norms
Now several companies have started switching from work from home to reopening offices.
However, still many offices remain scarcely used along with many openings still listed for remote work.
Zoom itself hasn’t fared any better.
As earlier mentioned, it enjoyed its heyday during the pandemic, specially from March to October 2020 when its share price quintupled.
The stock has since retreated to pre-pandemic levels.
By May 2022, Zoom’s stock had fallen 83% from that October high.
Revamping the modern office
Zoom has since made itself the pioneer of the redesigned modern office.
It got rid of cubicles, and repurposed desks to be event-like spaces.
“One of the things I think this huge experiment that we’ve all been a part of has proven is that [the office is] not necessarily to get work done,” Matthew Saxon, Zoom’s chief people officer.
In an effort to nurture growth, the company is looking at a wider suite of software tools for big businesses, including in-office collaboration products.
It has further invested in startup Anthropic to include artificial intelligence in its software for managing and automating customer service requests.
Merits of WFH/hybrid work
The Pew Research Center recently found that those given the option to work in an hybrid format prefer to spend more time working from home, rather than the office.
It’s also worth noting that according to Harvard research, two days a week in the office is “plausibly the sweet spot, where workers enjoy flexibility and yet are not as isolated compared to peers who are predominantly working from home.”
Companies also stand to benefit as they can hire from a wider pool beyond just 50 miles of an office- helping create more diverse teams.
