Revolutionary virtual meeting service Zoom– which made working from home widely possible during the pandemic- wants employees back in office. The company is enforcing a “structured hybrid approach,” meaning any employee who lives near an office, must be on site two days a week. This is considered the ‘most effective structure’ for the video-conferencing service.
Zoom is the latest company requiring their employees return to the office in some capacity. Several big name tech companies have also been pushing for a return to office for months now. These businesses have faced pushback from their employees, as they grew accustomed to the work from home flexibility. Even the White House wants to have federal workers in office more frequently.
Zoom recently laid off 15% of their staff, roughly 1,300 workers, due to a fall in demand for their product. Other tech companies have had similar mass layoffs this year. The mass layoffs stem from the companies growing too quickly during the pandemic, and their services not needed as much. Surprisingly, Zoom’s executive leadership team agreed to have their base salaries reduced by 20% for the coming fiscal year.
Honestly, I agree with the employees on this one. If the work can be done at home successfully, then why shouldn’t it be? Working from home provides many benefits that just aren’t the same with a forced commute to the office. Several studies have been conducted to show how beneficial a remote work can be for mental health. Majority of the younger workforce is looking for jobs that give them the best work-life balance, and those happen to be remote jobs.
