Snap And Other Tech Firms Want Employees Back In The Office

Silicon Valley employees who have turned ‘work from home’ into ‘drink wine and watch Netflix with your cat in between emails – from home’ have been put on notice.

Management at several tech companies have told employees they’ll be required to come into the office at least three days a week if they want to keep their jobs, MarketWatch reports.

The latest salvo came from Snap Inc. SNAP last month, which expects employees to spend at least 80% of their time in the office, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel says the policy, which starts in February, will help the company achieve “full potential” and allow workers to reach “our collective success.”

According to market research firm IDC, large companies that “deploy reactive and tactical hybrid work models” will suffer an estimated 20% revenue loss in 2024 due to job attrition and underperforming teams.

Perhaps the most notable case is Twitter, whose employees Elon Musk put on notice in early November that the company’s ‘work-from-anywhere’ arrangement wasn’t going to cut it, and employees would be required to spend at least 40 hours per week in the office.

Company C3.ai wasn’t having the ‘work from home’ at all – and now has employees filling three floors of a Redwood City, California office building.

“Everyone is here. Have been for a year,” said CEO Tom Siebel. “Look at that packed parking lot. People need to interact in person to effectively collaborate.“

Box Inc. CEO Aaron Levie told MarketWatch “It is super important to have people work side by side and in person,” adding “You will see more momentum.“

And Adds Paul Friesen, chief marketing officer of Rapid – which has advocated for workers to spend at least three days per week in the office, said: “We value having employees come together, collaborate and drive productive outcomes in person while also understanding the new world work environment and the need to balance in-office with work from home and remote experiences.”