Tech's Remote-Work U-turn

Tech giants such as Alphabet's Google, Lyft, Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms, and Salesforce are reneging on their remote-work policies, driving their employees back to offices as they deem more efficient and cost-effective. Previously, enforcing office work could lead to losing employees to competitors offering remote-first models. Still, with over 200,000 layoffs in the tech industry and weaker job prospects, the scales have tipped back to employers. As a result, about 600,000 U.S. workers faced new office-return mandates last month, with the tech industry accounting for one-third of those and another 85,000 to follow suit by September. Google, for instance, now factors in office attendance in performance reviews and plans to permit remote work only by exception. Similarly, Salesforce and Lyft have updated their policies to include more in-person work. These changes are leading to dissatisfaction among many employees who had adjusted to the flexibility of remote work during the pandemic.