Zoom tells employees to return to the office

Zoom, a mainstay of remote work during the pandemic, is telling its employees to return to the office more often.

In a statement shared with The Hill, a spokesperson for Zoom said the company believes a “structured hybrid approach” is “most effective” for the video communications company.

Employees who live near an office are required to be on-site two days a week “to interact with their teams,” the spokesperson said. 

“As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continuing to innovate, and support our global customers,” the spokesperson said, adding the company will continue to use the Zoom platform to keep their “dispersed teams connected and working efficiently.” 

Zoom’s decision follows that of other major employers — such as Disney and Amazon — to push workers to return to the office, at least for part of the week. 

While the number of fully remote employees is decreasing, a study from Pew Research Center earlier this year found roughly a third of workers with jobs that can be done remotely are working from home all the time. 

Zoom is also among a number of tech firms that have announced layoffs this year. In February, the company announced that it would cut more than 15 percent of its workforce, equal to about 1,300 jobs. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan suggested the company had grown too fast during the pandemic and was also taking into consideration the uncertainty of the global economy. 

The layoffs came after Zoom experienced a massive revenue increase when the COVID-19 pandemic forced employees, students and organizations to work remotely. The company reported a $2.65 billion revenue during the 2021 fiscal year after the pandemic struck, equal to a 326 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.