Zoom, the online meetings platform that became synonymous with home working during the pandemic, has told staff to come into the office more often.
Workers who live within a “commutable distance” of the company’s offices, including in the UK, will be expected to make the journey on designated team days.
The California-based firm had been slower than many companies to enforce such a mandate, perhaps aware of its public perception as a key enabler of working from home.
It became a hugely popular tool during 2020’s COVID lockdowns, growing from roughly 10 million daily users in December 2019 to more than 300 million the following April.
But its growth slowed as the pandemic subsided and amid greater competition from rival platforms like Microsoft‘s Teams and Salesforce’s Slack.
Falling net profits saw Zoom join other tech firms like Meta and Amazon in cutting jobs, laying off some 1,300 employees earlier this year.
Zoom’s office working mandate was first reported by Business Insider, and a company spokesperson confirmed to Sky News it would apply to the UK.
“We believe that a structured hybrid approach – meaning a set number of days employees that live near an office need to be on site – is most effective for Zoom,” they said.
“As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers.
“We’ll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently.”