- The video-conferencing company Zoom has asked some employees to come back to the office regularly.
- The move is surprising, especially given how much the company benefited from remote work.
- Last year, Zoom announced that less than 2% of its workforce would return to working at the office.
The remote-work revolution is officially dead.
Zoom, one of the main enablers and beneficiaries of remote work, just asked its employees to head back to the office. The company announced that employees living within 50 miles of a Zoom office must work there at least two days a week.
"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 in a statement. "As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers."
Many other companies have announced return-to-office mandates, but Zoom's change of heart is surprising given the role its technology plays in remote work. The company's video-conferencing service became so ubiquitous during the pandemic that its corporate name became a verb describing the act of firing up a video chat to connect with coworkers online.
Zoom shares rose six-fold in 2020 as sales surged after millions of workers were stuck at home because of COVID-19 restrictions. By 2021, though, revenue growth slowed, and the stock plunged. The company has shed at least $100 billion in market value since then. This year, the stock has stagnated because Zoom's video-conferencing service is needed less as businesses continue pushing staff back to the office.
Zoom's marketing material suggests that flexible work is almost as important as monetary compensation. A survey commissioned by Zoom found that 43% of workers saw flexible work as a basic expectation rather than a perk, and 70% said that they'd consider leaving their current job for a more flexible working environment.
Last year, Zoom announced that less than 2% of its workforce would work from an office.
"We'll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently," the spokesperson said.
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