Snapchat Staff Ordered Back To The Office

The home working procedure for the workforce of one tech giant seems to be ending, after Snap (the owner of messaging website Snapchat) announced a change.

Snap, in an emailed statement seen by Reuters, will require its staff to work from its offices 80 percent of the time, starting from the end of February, the company reportedly said on Monday.

It comes after most tech firms embraced the switch to remote working during the Coronavirus pandemic. This move saw millions of workers create a home office, and work offsite.

Office return

Working from home has proved to be so popular that many firms are now adopting a hybrid working policy, where staff can share their working week between stints in the office, and days at home.

But Snap it seems wants its employees to be mostly office based.

“After working remotely for so long, we’re excited to get everyone back together next year with our new 80/20 hybrid model,” a spokesperson for the social media platform was quoted by Reuters as saying in an emailed statement.

Santa Monica, California-based Snapchat had reportedly asked employees to be in office four days a week from February.

The firm it should be remembered in August said it would lay off 20 percent of all staff and shut down projects to cut costs amid a deteriorating economy.

Remote working

With the Covid-19 lockdowns over in most countries (except China), it has not been plain sailing for businesses plotting the “big return” to the corporate workplace or office.

Indeed, many big name tech firms including Apple, Google and others, have faced significant pushback from their workforce as they sought to bring staff back into the office.

One Apple executive even publicly resigned over the firm’s order to return to the office earlier this year.

Many firms meanwhile are adopting hybrid working practices, with staff working two or three days in the office, and other days remotely (often at home).

In August research from Netherlands-based workspace management specialist infinitSpace revealed that three in five UK business leaders (or 61 percent of business leaders) said they are struggling to get staff back into the office as often as they would like.

That infinitSpace research also revealed that one third (36 percent) of full-time staff said they were considering moving to an employer that offers more flexibility, and 31 percent are looking for a more engaging workspace.