STORY | Zoom signals the end of an era for work from home phenomenon

My cousin has been working from home ever since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. She only goes to the office once every month and has enough time to spend with the family.

The Covid-19 lockdown introduced a more flexible and family-friendly way of work: Work-from-home. Remote work became the new normal due to Covid-19 regulations. Softwares like Zoom helped us to usher in the age of remote work and arguably benefited from the transition more than any other business.

Zoom, the company whose name has become a verb symbolizing remote work is calling workers back to the office. Zoom formalized a policy to bring people to the office two days a week—a typical “structured hybrid” policy that will still allow people to work remote. Very important to note that the company only summoned staff living a “commutable distance” to the office.

Is this a sign that remote work’s days are “over,” “dead” and we are at the “end of an era? We don't know. What we do know is that Zoom isn’t alone in beckoning its employees back to the office. Many companies have moved on from remote-only policies initiated in 2020. Meta, the company that own Facebook & WhatsApp, has recently told its employees to return to the office three days a week starting in September.

Earlier this year, Amazon also announced that it required employees to come into the office at least three days a week. This didn’t go down well with many workers, who had become accustomed to luxuries such as seeing their children for more than 30 minutes a day. Still, despite the pushback, Amazon’s leadership remains resolute.

What do you call a situation where a company that makes software for companies to establish remote working is not allowing its own workers to remote work? Zoom mara!!

Transitioning from remote work to hybrid is going to be interesting.

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Reference:
Jena McGregor Zoom Wants Workers Back, Cotopaxi’s People Chief On Remote Work And WeWork’s Warning 2023 Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2023/08/11/zoom-wants-workers-back-cotopaxis-people-chief-on-remote-work-and-weworks-warning/?sh=5526070f102f

Arwa Mahdawi How can you tell remote work is over? Zoom has ordered employees back to the office 2023 The Guardian
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/08/remote-work-over-zoom-ordered-employees-back-to-office