Communications platform Zoom, best known for its video calls, has urged the majority of its employees to return to the office for work.

Employees who live within a 50km radius of Zoom’s offices have been asked to return to work in the office. At least two days a week starting this month and continuing through September.

The office

Since the lockdowns, it’s been something of a running gag on the internet: Why does Zoom have offices at all? A rhetorical question, because the answer isn’t funny at all: In the end, of course, not everything can be regulated through one’s own services.

However, working remotely is Zoom’s main selling point. The company touts itself as the ideal solution for working from home or anywhere. Apparently, this does not apply to their own employees. Zoom is now mostly about hybrid working, rather than full-time working from home (or a nice coffee bar).

personnel policy

The company cites the exchange with colleagues as an important motivation for the measure. Early last year, Zoom reopened its office doors to those who wanted it. Almost two percent of his employees worked in the office again. An internal poll then revealed that 85 percent of Zoomies (we didn’t invent that term) would rather continue to work from home. The current measure will therefore undoubtedly not be greeted with jubilation.

Zoom’s official statement reads as follows: “We believe that a structured hybrid approach – meaning that employees who live close to an office need to be on site on set days – is most effective for Zoom.” As companies are we are better able to leverage our proprietary technologies, continue to innovate, and continue to support our global users. We will continue to use the full Zoom platform to keep our people and diverse teams connected and working efficiently.”

Earlier this year, Zoom laid off 1,300 employees, which accounted for about 15 percent of the workforce at the time. Like many others, the company is also increasingly concerned with artificial intelligence. In May, for example, a collaboration with the AI ​​company Anthropic was announced. Earlier this year there was also the integration of OpenAI’s generative AI into Zoom IQ.

This article has been updated with Zoom’s response.