Three months back, Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER) announced that all its employees should come to the office at least three days a week. But now they are dropping the plans and instructing the employees to apply for fully remote work or choose offices in other locations, said Nikki Krishnamurthy, Uber’s chief people officer.
New Options
He made clear that if the employees choose to come to the office, they should spend at least 50% of the time there. After that, they can either choose three days in one week and two days in the next week or five days in a week and no need to come another week. Employees can choose their options according to their team requirements.
It’s a big challenge for giant companies in Silicon Valley. During a pandemic, these companies enabled fully remote work for their employees and built all the necessary products. With the pandemic cases, they maintained a correct telework balance with their employees.
Change of Plans
Google also initially instructed its workers to come to their pre-pandemics offices. However, just like Uber later, they decided to give work options from home or choose other office places.
It’s important to note; initially, Krishnamurthy was ready to let go of some remote work advantage that would attract talents from all over the world. However, big companies like Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) has taken this advantage and now offer permanent remote work opportunities.
She said they couldn’t give up the work magic to reach out more and for flexibility. But, as the pandemic continues, Uber is working out the solution with its employees. Krishnamurthy said they receive feedback from the employees and plan to give more flexibility and a suitable long-term model for post-pandemic.
However, the company still believes in working together in the office. But they value employees’ decisions, whether they want to work in an office or their home. Uber’s spokesperson Lois van der Laan said the company is working on an approach that works for current and future employees.
Final Words
Twitter has announced their employees can choose to work from home “forever” if they wish to. And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning on remote work for half of next year. However, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) says they still need employees to come to the office at least half of the days a week.
