Zoom, the online meetings platform that became synonymous with remote work during the pandemic, has instructed its staff to return to the office more frequently.
Employees who live within a reasonable distance of the company’s offices, including those in the UK, will be required to commute on designated team days.
Initially hesitant to enforce such a mandate, the California-based firm was mindful of its reputation as a key facilitator of remote work.
Zoom experienced explosive growth during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, going from approximately 10 million daily users in December 2019 to over 300 million users in April the following year.
However, as the pandemic waned, its growth slowed, facing stiffer competition from rival platforms like Microsoft’s Teams and Salesforce’s Slack.
Declining net profits led Zoom to cut jobs, joining other tech firms like Meta and Amazon in laying off around 1,300 employees earlier this year.
The news of Zoom’s office working mandate was initially reported by Business Insider, and a company spokesperson confirmed that it would also apply to the UK.
The spokesperson stated that Zoom believes a structured hybrid approach, where employees who live near an office need to be on-site for a set number of days, is the most effective strategy for the company.
They also expressed confidence in leveraging Zoom’s own technologies to maintain connectivity and productivity among employees and dispersed teams while supporting global customers.
