Despite initially promising employees that they would be able to continue working from home where appropriate as mandated by the pandemic, Dell is now reversing its decision and asking employees to return to the office.
Contrary to the approach of some other companies, Dell appears to be asking employees who live within an hour’s commute from the office three days a week instead of specific jobs.
Recognizing that the news may make it difficult for some workers to find appropriate benefits, such as childcare, the request is made on an “as soon as possible” basis (via Register (opens in a new tab)).
Dell returns to the office
The news comes from COO Jeff Clarke, who sees the move as a step that begins to define more clearly what hybrid work means for the company.
At the start of the pandemic, Clarke suggested that nearly two-thirds of the company’s employees could continue working remote workreferring to work as “an effect, not a place or time”.
In fact, it does not look like a compromise, but a return to pre-pandemic normality, when employees usually spent about half a week in the office as part of a hybrid routine.
While Dell isn’t the only company asking employees to return to the office, the general sentiment is still unclear. Amazon asked employees to do this earlier this year back to the officewhat happened to the storm. Google did the same, only to tell Cloud employees that they should share a desk with a friend for two days a week.
At the other end of the spectrum, Microsoft announced the report pointing out that employees were indeed productive at home (and sometimes even more so), only that managers did not trust employees.
Either way, Dell is just one of many companies starting to return to office work. a company spokesman said TechRadar Pro:
“As the world adjusts to post-pandemic life, we have shared with our team members that we will return to a more flexible and hybrid working environment. We believe that future work experiences will be hybrid in nature, and flexibility is and will continue to be a strong distinguishing feature of our culture. Team members with a one-way commute of less than an hour to a large Dell office should plan to be onsite at least three days a week. For those team members who require a full-time remote work schedule, we will work with them on an individual basis.”
By Register (opens in a new tab)