Will Meta Reduce Remote Work? Zuckerberg Says "In-Person Work Yields Greater Results"

"Show Better Performance When Working with Team Members"
Some Companies Like Amazon and Disney Reduce Remote Work

Meta Platforms (hereinafter Meta), the parent company of Facebook, which announced additional layoff plans last November, is reportedly considering reducing remote work as well.

On the 15th (local time), Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, announced additional layoff plans for 10,000 employees following last November, stating, "Internal analysis of employee performance data showed that engineers working face-to-face performed more work."

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO [Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

Here, 'face-to-face work' is interpreted as working in the office, collaborating face-to-face with colleagues, rather than remote work including working from home.

In particular, CEO Zuckerberg said, "Engineers who maintain face-to-face work showed on average better performance than those working remotely."

He continued, "This analysis also shows that early-career engineers perform better on average when they work with their team members at least three days a week." He added, "More research is needed, but our hypothesis remains that building trust face-to-face is easier (than remotely), and such relationships help teams work more effectively."

Meta was one of the first tech companies to allow remote work at the beginning of COVID-19 and has since encouraged employees to work remotely, maintaining this practice to date. However, there is an interpretation that Meta, struggling with recent poor performance, will soon take measures to reduce remote work. Foreign media also evaluated CEO Zuckerberg's remarks as preliminary statements regarding the reduction of remote work.

Meanwhile, some companies are gradually reducing remote work due to poor performance and bleak economic outlooks. Earlier, Amazon changed its policy from allowing managers to decide on remote work to requiring employees to come to the office at least three days a week starting May 1. Global content company Disney began requiring employees to work in the office at least four days a week starting this month.