New York - The renowned company that became synonymous with remote work is now aligning with the increasing trend of returning to the office.
Zoom, the pioneer in video conferencing, has communicated through a spokesperson that it's encouraging employees residing within a 50-mile radius of its offices to work on-site for two days a week. This decision, according to the statement, was reached as the company believes that a structured hybrid approach, where employees near an office spend two days on-site to collaborate with their teams, is the most effective strategy for Zoom.
Scheduled to take effect in August and September, this new policy was initially reported by the New York Times. The article also noted that Zoom's CEO, Eric Yuan, addressed questions from employees who were not pleased with the policy during a Zoom meeting last week.
Headquartered in San Jose, California, Zoom experienced remarkable growth in the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, companies rushed to transition to remote work, and even families and friends turned to the platform for virtual gatherings. However, this growth has slowed down as the pandemic threat has lessened.
The shares of Zoom Video Communications Inc. have undergone a significant decline since their peak early in the pandemic, dropping from $559 per share in October 2020 to below $70 on Tuesday. The shares have seen a decline of more than 10% at the beginning of August. In February, Zoom had to lay off about 1,300 employees, which amounted to roughly 15% of its workforce.
Major companies such as Google, Salesforce, and Amazon have also taken steps to encourage employees to return to the office despite facing opposition from some of their staff members.
Similar to Zoom, many companies are adopting a part-time office attendance model, as hybrid work emerges as a lasting consequence of the pandemic. According to Kastle Systems, which tracks occupancy through entry swipes, the average weekly office occupancy rate in ten major U.S. cities has been around 50% since January, occasionally dipping below that mark during the summer months.