Snap is the latest company to try to bring workers back to the office.
Starting in February, Snap employees will be expected to spend at least 80% of their time in the office, coming out to four days a week for most employees, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. The policy, which CEO Evan Spiegel called “default together,” would apply to all of Snap’s 30 offices around the world.
Spiegel said the new return-to-office policy would help Snap achieve its “full potential” and argued that what workers might give up “in terms of our individual convenience” would be offset by “our collective success.”
“After working remotely for so long we’re excited to get everyone back together next year with our new 80/20 hybrid model. We believe that being together in person, while retaining flexibility for our team members, will enhance our ability to deliver on our strategic priorities,” a Snap spokesperson told Coins2Day.
Snap was an early adherent of a remote-first policy as COVID began to spread in the U.S. But in his memo, Spiegel wrote that he worries the extended period of working from home has meant “we’ve forgotten what we’ve lost—and what we could gain—by spending more time together.”
Spiegel’s comments echo other remarks from corporate leaders trying to get workers commuting again. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told Coins2Day in February that the bank’s “cultural foundation” required people to be back in the office, while JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has argued that remote work fostered dishonesty and procrastination.
Many companies have tried to impose mandates on in-person work. Companies like Apple and BlackRock are asking workers to come in three days a week, with others like General Motorsplanning to impose their own three-days-a-week mandates in the coming year.
Most recently, new Twitter CEO Elon Musk demanded that workers come into the office, saying only “exceptional” workers would be granted an allowance to work from home. (Musk reportedly walked back this demand as Twitter employees chose not to embrace the new CEO’s “hard-core” working culture.)
Snap’s demand for people to come back to the office comes amid a slump for the social media company.
Snap said it would cut about 20% of its workforce on Aug. 30, citing low quarterly revenue growth. The company also said it would slash spending in its augmented reality division.
Snap reported its slowest quarterly sales growth ever in late October, at just 6%, which it blamed on “macroeconomic headwinds” and “increased competition.” Snap announced that it would also close its office in San Francisco, saying in a memo the space was “lightly used by team members following our move to flexible work,” according to Bloomberg.
Update, November 30, 2022: This article has been updated with a comment from Snap.
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