Meta and Goldman double down on return-to-office mandates as a third of desks sit empty
Third time’s the charm… when you’re not kiddin’ around (for real this time). Meta and Goldman Sachs are wagging their fingers, telling disobedient employees that playtime’s over and it’s time to get back to the IRL office. Last week, Meta rolled out its new “in-person time policy,” which features ID-badge monitoring and warnings of firing. (The few “metamates” with remote exceptions are having their unfettered office access revoked.) And Goldman just kicked off a renewed push to get workers back in the office five days/week. They’re not alone:
Et tu, Zoom’te? Remote-work enabler Zoom told employees within 50 miles of an office to RTO at least two days/week.
Ama-zon’t think so: In its RTO zeal, Amazon reportedly told some employees to relocate to keep their jobs. In response, some quit.
Pushin’ that RTO rock up the hill… with no peak in sight. While some megacorps are all in on #officelife, buildings aren’t exactly bustling. Recently, office attendance was <50% of prepandemic levels in 10 major US biz districts. One report found that a third of office desks worldwide sit empty all week, with another third used less than three hours/day. In June, ZipRecruiter’s chief economist called WFH a “permanent shift.”
Welcome to the two normals… Big biz is bifurcating on RTO, with the likes of Amazon and Meta mandating butts in seats, and others like Atlassian, Airbnb, Dropbox, GitLab, and Okta saying they’re remote-first or office-optional. The future may not be entirely remote or 100% in the office, but split between companies embracing one or the other. FYI: companies offering remote and hybrid work have been hiring at twice the rate of those with full time in-office requirements.