Amid a second round of sweeping layoffs, Meta (Facebook) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the importance of working from the office. In an e-mail to Meta employees, wherein he announced a fresh round of layoffs of about 10,000 employees, Zuckerberg shared his vision for the company’s future and put forth his thoughts on working from home. Encouraging people to “find more opportunities to work with their colleagues in person”, Zuckerberg reportedly said that the company’s early analysis of performance data showed that engineers who either joined Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person did better on average than people who joined remotely.
“This analysis also shows that engineers earlier in their careers perform better on average when they work in person with teammates at least three days a week. This requires further study, but our hypothesis is that it is still easier to build trust in the person and that those relationships help us work more effectively”, the mail by Zuckerberg read. However, Meta (Facebook) is not the only company that is calling employees back to the office.
Reports said that other employers are also asking their staff to show up in person. Check the list of companies that have ended up working from home recently.
Amazon: Amazon has asked employees to be in the office thrice a week starting May 1. Last year in October, CEO Andy Jassy had asserted that managers would be able to decide how often, if at all, their staff should come in. “There is something about being face-to-face with somebody, looking them in the eye and seeing they’re fully immersed in whatever you’re discussing that bonds people together,” Jassy said on the company’s blog.
Starbucks: Earlier this year in January, Starbucks asked its corporate employees to be in the office at least three days a week. “Effective Jan. 30, Starbucks employees within commuting distance would be required to come in to work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and a third day of the week that would be mutually decided by the immediate leader and team. They would be free to work from anywhere the remaining two days”, the company said in an internal memo.
Walmart: The company has decided to shut its tech offices in Austin, Texas, Portland, Oregon, and Carlsbad, California, requiring affected employees to relocate to the company’s other offices, where they will need to be in the office at least twice a week. An internal memo said that those who are not willing to return to the office and leave the company will be offered severance pay.
Walt Disney Co: CEO Bob Iger has issued a four-day in-office mandate starting March 1. In his first meeting with employees last year, Iger said he has decided to spend lots of hours in the office and ‘hoped’ he wouldn’t be lonely. The announcement comes after the company decided to let go of 7,000 employees.
Apple: Earlier last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook had sent an email to its employees about the new hybrid work-from-office policy. The mail asked Apple staff to be in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the additional third day will depend on the individual teams.
