Notification of Reporting to Department Office
Increased Work Efficiency Cited as Reason
Welfare Benefits Reduced Before Employee Attendance, Causing Resentment
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, informed its employees on the 1st (local time) that starting in September, they will be required to come to their respective department offices three times a week, Bloomberg reported.
A Meta spokesperson stated in a press release that day, "We are working to foster the collaboration and culture necessary for employees to achieve their best work efficiency," confirming this policy.
Regarding the change in workplace policy, the Meta spokesperson emphasized, "We support distributed work across various locations," and added, "We are confident that our employees can make a meaningful impact whether they are in the office or at home." However, employees who have been working remotely from the start will be allowed to maintain their current work arrangements.
Meta expanded remote work to all full-time employees in June 2021 following the spread of COVID-19. At that time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed optimism about the potential of remote work, stating, "As remote video and virtual reality technologies improve, I am optimistic about the possibilities of working from home."
However, in March, Zuckerberg changed his previously positive stance on remote work, stating that engineers working face-to-face accomplish more. He has designated this year as the "Year of Efficiency" and is pushing for a restructuring of the overall operational framework.
At that time, he criticized the low productivity of remote work, saying, "Engineers who joined Meta and transitioned from face-to-face work to remote work, or those who have continued face-to-face work, on average performed better than engineers who work only remotely."
He further stated, "The lower the seniority, the better it is to work face-to-face," adding, "Early-career engineers tend to perform better on average when they work with their team members at least three days a week."
However, ahead of employees' return to the office, Meta faced criticism for reducing various welfare benefits starting in March. According to The New York Times (NYT), Meta announced it would reduce or eliminate free services such as laundry and dry cleaning that had been provided, and notified employees that free meal times would be delayed by 30 minutes from the previous 6 p.m. schedule. The NYT reported that since Meta’s last company shuttle bus departs at 6 p.m., the delayed meal time would make it difficult for employees to take food to go.
The NYT pointed out that based on the reduction of remote work and welfare benefits, "The heyday of abundant employee perks at Facebook seems to be coming to an end," and noted, "This move reflects the changing workplace culture in Silicon Valley."
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