Zoom, the popular video conferencing platform, is calling some workers back to the office twice a week to build collaborative products for the new ways of working. The company, which became a lifeline for remote workers during the pandemic, believes that employees need to experience the pain firsthand in order to understand and address the challenges faced by their users. However, the move to bring employees back to the office is facing pushback, with some workers quitting their jobs over the change. Zoom calls its plan a “structured hybrid” policy, requiring employees within a 50-mile radius of an office to return two days a week, but still allowing 65% of workers to remain remote.
According to Matthew Saxon, Chief People Officer at Zoom, the company has already seen benefits since some teams started returning to the office. Product engineering teams identified enhancements for Zoom’s in-office products on their first day back, which likely would not have been noticed if they hadn’t used the product in-person. While it’s still early days in determining the success of the office strategy, Zoom is conducting surveys to measure employee satisfaction and productivity. The company acknowledges that it may need to adapt and evolve its policies based on the needs and successes of its workers.
However, not all hybrid plans offer enough flexibility, according to Prithwiraj Choudhury, a professor at Harvard Business School. Choudhury suggests that the most effective plans allow teams to decide on the frequency and locations of in-person meetings. He warns that limited and rigid hybrid plans can create two classes of workers, leading to mistrust and miscommunication. At its annual conference, Zoom introduced new collaborative products beyond its video conferencing tool, positioning itself as the go-to product for the changing nature of work. The company aims to understand the needs of different companies and build products accordingly, recognizing that various models of work, including in-office, remote, and hybrid, will coexist in the future.
