Zoom wants its remote work company to come back to the office

Zoom, a company whose name has become synonymous with video chats that have allowed many to work remotely during the pandemic, has told staffers who work within 50 miles of a company office that they’ll have to come back in two days per week, according to Business Insider.

“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,” Colleen Rodriguez, Zoom’s head of global PR, 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.” The company’s new hybrid work approach will roll out over August and September, The New York Times reports.

There’s, of course, an irony here, given how critical Zoom has become to many for remote work. (“We’ll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently,” Rodriguez said.) But Zoom has actually waited much longer than many big tech companies in mandating some kind of hybrid work approach.

Google employees in many US locations were expected to work from the office three days a week starting in April 2022, for example. Apple workers in the Bay Area similarly had to return to the office three days a week starting last September. Elon Musk largely ended remote work at the company formerly known as Twitter shortly after he took over late last year.