Zoom tells employees to return to office for work

Zoom is asking all of its employees to return to the office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, when the tech company blew up as one of the main means of communication for people forced to work from home.

Zoom, which remains a leader in the post-pandemic remote work trend, is now asking all employees within 50 miles of a company office to go in at least two days a week on a hybrid schedule.

“We believe that a structured hybrid approach – meaning employees that live near an office need to be onsite two days a week to interact with their teams – is most effective for Zoom,” a spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement. “As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers.”

The San Jose-based company’s shares skyrocketed six-fold in 2020 when the pandemic left millions of employees who needed to connect with coworkers online stranded in their homes, according to the outlet. Zoom quickly emerged as the go-to video conferencing service.

Towards the end of 2021, however, Zoom’s stock plummeted and the company has since lost at least $100 billion in market value.

The stock stagnated again this year as workers have returned to their offices across the country, cutting the reliance on video communications, Business Insider reported.

In January 2022, Zoom said only 2% of its employees worked on-site.

Zoom has two United States offices in San Jose, California and Denver, Colorado as well as numerous international sites, according to the company’s website. The company employs more than 8,400 people worldwide, per Fortune.

“We’ll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently,” the spokesperson said.