An end to remote work? Even Zoom employees are asked to return to office

During the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, many workers grew accustomed to working from home. Many of said workers would have grown accustomed to using the video conference application “Zoom,” whose stock peaked in October 2020 at $559 USD per share, more than 500% of what it was worth in January 2020.

Despite Zoom’s stock price having rapidly benefitted from workers working remotely, they have now declared that workers living within 50 miles of a Zoom office are to return to in-person work at least two days a week, according to a report from Business Insider from August 5. This would impact the majority of Zoom’s 4400 current remote-working employees.

"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," a spokesperson 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."

What do the workers want?

A survey Zoom conducted found that 43% of workers said that they felt flexible work is a basic expectation, not a job perk, according to Business Insider. An additional 70% of workers said they would consider leaving their jobs for one within a more flexible work environment. Only 1% of workers surveyed said they prefer to work in office full-time.

"We'll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently," the spokesperson said.