Starting on September 5, employees of Facebook's parent company, Meta, will be obliged to spend three days a week in the office. This is a surprising change from the firm's previous policy of allowing remote work. The decision marks a change from the company's prior support of remote work throughout the pandemic and the months that followed.
The Information's study of a work notice revealed that Meta noted that changing to a more in-person working environment might necessitate adaptations from staff. The business, however, believes that going back to the workplace will encourage collaboration and advance its future initiatives.
According to a report by Insider, a Meta spokesperson said, "We remain committed to distributed work and believe that individuals can have a meaningful impact whether working from the office or remotely. We are continuously refining our model to foster collaboration, relationships, and a conducive work culture."
It is significant to emphasise that the new policy will not affect current remote workers or those employed for remote roles in locations without offices; rather, it will only apply to employees allocated to an office. The representative made it clear that Meta understands the value of remote work in specific positions and circumstances and would keep supporting such setups.
The move by Meta to reinstate staff also ties in with its ongoing aspirations to make 2023 the "year of efficiency." Thousands of staff were also let go by the corporation prior to the decision to reopen the office. In two successive rounds of layoffs, Meta terminated almost 21,000 workers. In late 2022, 11,000 employees were affected by the first layoff; earlier this year, 10,000 employees were let go by the corporation.
Other tech giants did the same. While Google fired 12,000 workers, Amazon has fired almost 27,000 workers over the course of two rounds of layoffs. One of the very few Silicon Valley tech companies, Apple, has managed to avoid widespread layoffs.
