Meta employees are the latest having to comply with enforced return-to-office rules requiring them to be based from the office at least three days per week, but there is some flex in the new mandate.
The changes only affect those with office-based contracts that were sent packing during the height of the pandemic, and those with remote contracts can continue to work remotely.
Given the industry-wide trend, which is veering away from remote working, it’s unclear how long that will stand before even those workers may be asked to visit the office occasionally.
Meta first warned workers of the change three months ago, when it said that workers were more productive in the office.
It also said in June that its workers already worked an average of 2.2 days per week from the office, so the three-day rule would likely have minimal impact on the majority of its employees.
The social media giant is now several months into its “Year of Efficiency” – a term coined by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a March 2023 announcement. At that time, he hinted at layoffs, cutbacks, and other measures to make the company more cost-effective.
The jury’s still out on whether office working presents more of a cost to companies. The economic uncertainty that followed the pandemic saw many companies looking to reduce their office footprints in a bid to save some cash, but now, the tech industry is pushing for in-person work once more.
Amazon, Google, and Apple have all enforced similar rules asking workers to return to the office, and very few remain as on-board as they once were with the idea of hybrid work.
Meta did not immediately respond to TechRadar Pro’s request for comment on the matter.
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