Zoom announces hybrid return to work
Videoconferencing giant Zoom has announced its plans for a hybrid approach to work for its staff, in a company blog post.
The company, which became a household name during the pandemic, conducted an internal survey which found that only 1 per cent of its employees wanted to return to working full-time from the office.
The survey also showed that over half of Zoom workers preferred a hybrid approach. The remainder of staff preferred working remotely full-time.
Chief financial officer Kelly Steckelberg wrote on a company blog that Zoom was “preparing a hybrid approach — strategically mixing remote and in-office work,” but, she added, “we’re still experimenting with how that even looks.”
Steckelberg said Zoom had opened it’s offices in Sydney, Australia over the summer but were forced to temporarily close it again due to covid-19 outbreak concerns.
“We plan to reopen again when it is safe,” she said, “but this could impact plans to reopen a second location this fall.”
Steckelberg insisted that no office would be reopened until it was “possible to do so without personal protective equipment and social distancing.”
“Ultimately,” Steckelberg wrote, “our office reopenings will be one component of a flexible, hybrid approach.”
Zoom’s popularity soared during the pandemic as most activities around the world went virtual and the company saw its sales rise by 370 per cent in the last three months of 2020 compared with the same period in the previous year.