Meta Platforms Inc.’s META return-to-office mandate has reportedly encountered several challenges, including space shortages for meetings and issues with hot-desking, as employees await the approval of their permanent remote work applications.
What Happened: Meta’s return-to-office mandate, which came into effect on Sept. 5, has proven to be a challenging transition for its approximately 65,000 employees.
Workers are now required to be in the office for at least three days a week, and attendance is closely monitored, with non-compliance risking termination.
“It’s a mess,” said one employee. “And all of this because it’s difficult to remote onboard new hires. Instead of solving that problem, they just decided let’s go back to exactly how it was before.”
One recurring issue for employees is the scarcity of available conference rooms for team meetings, reminiscent of a problem faced by the company in 2019. However, the current situation is exacerbated by the increased workforce.
Getting a conference room, let alone one large enough for a team, has become a significant hurdle, leading to cramped gatherings, with some resorting to sitting on the floor during meetings due to lack of chairs and table space, reported Business Insider, citing some employees who denied to be named.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, previously acknowledged the challenges on Threads, stating, “We have not yet figured out hybrid work.”
Meanwhile, introducing “hot desks” for flexible work arrangements further complicated matters. Some employees who primarily worked from home now struggle to secure a desk when required to come into the office.
Additionally, some unnamed employees also revealed that the approval process for permanent remote work applications is slow. According to Lori Goler, Meta’s head of HR, remote work applications submitted after the late August mandate announcement will undergo review starting at the end of October, with subsequent reviews scheduled on a monthly basis.
Despite these issues, employees are not resigning en masse. Many are determined to retain their positions, given the tough performance reviews and the mandate for team leaders to categorize a portion of their workers as needing support, the report noted.
Why It’s Important: In June, following Meta’s footsteps, Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL also reportedly issued a notice asking employees to return to office.
In November last year, Elon Musk, who bought Twitter, now rebranded as X, banned remote work at the company, saying that the social media platform needs “intense work” in the office.
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