Zoom orders employees to return to the office

Zoom has been a hit during the pandemic as governments and industries have been forced to work remotely almost overnight. Photo: Andrew Parsons/REUTERS

Zoom, the video calling app synonymous with remote work during the pandemic, is sending employees back to the office.

Employees were told that those who live near one of her offices must be on site for at least two days a week, with the company claiming that hybrid work is “most effective for Zoom.”

The tech company, which has more than 8,000 employees, is the latest major employer to move away from completely remote work. Amazon, Apple, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, among others, have ordered employees to return to the office more frequently in recent months.

It's ironic that Zoom has been a boon for telecommuting.< /p>

Zoom's video conferencing software has been a hit during the pandemic, when entire industries have been forced to work remotely almost overnight.

The California-based company's stock rose during Covid-19, but its price collapsed as people returned to work. reducing Zoom's market value by more than $100 billion (£78 billion).

A spokesman for the company said: «We believe a structured hybrid approach, where employees who live near the office need to be on site two days a week to interact with their teams, is most effective for Zoom.»

Business Insider first reported a return to office demand.

A Stanford study found that hybrid workers spend twice as much time in meetings compared to full-time office workers.

This comes amid concerns that remote workers are less productive than those who follow traditional approaches. working patterns, raising concerns that the impact of the pandemic on the economy could be weaker growth while much work from home remains.

A Stanford study found that more meetings for hybrid workers are in part because those who split their week between work and home tend to be managers and professionals, while employees who only work in person tend to need to see clients' faces. — meet face-to-face or use equipment.

However, people who work entirely from home also spend less than a quarter of their time in meetings—typically IT and other support staff who don't need to interact face-to-face with his colleagues, researchers from Stanford, the University of Chicago and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México discovered.

«The split among hybrid workers looks especially good for professionals and managers who need to discuss strategic decisions,» the researchers found. “For a fully remote and fully in-person work, such discussions and meetings are clearly a minor part of the work.”

Working from home

Previous research by analysts has shown that the typical American worker spends 1.4 days at home. In the UK, the average is 1.5% higher, while only Canadians work from home more, by 1.7 days each.

The researchers found that there was no difference between the groups in their willingness to work when they were feeling unwell. Just over one in five said they would not work if they were not feeling well.

Among those who can work from home, 39% said they would come to work despite not feeling well, and 38% They said they would stay at home. and work from there.

Scientists say the lesson of the pandemic may be that those who are unwell should be advised to stay at home if they can still work.

“If a worker feels sick, sick or injured, but he can muster up the strength to do some work from home, why not? Even more so if it keeps colleagues away from colds, flu or Covid,” they said.

“Part of the discussion about remote work should probably revolve around how it can support work when workers are unwell. enough to come. If they are allowed to take sick leave, why not allow employees to work from home due to illness?”