--- description: Zoom, which helped millions work from home during the pandemic, is requiring employees return to the office. title: Even Zoom Is Calling Employees Back to the Office image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa86cf432a99d59/698a3f50929fad3322bfa0c7/Zoom-back-to-office.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Even Zoom Is Calling Employees Back to the Office ## Video: Heat Makes Outdoor Work Dangerous [Watch (HLS stream): Heat Makes Outdoor Work Dangerous](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LmebsmXB.m3u8) (7:17)  _Published 2023-08-02. As scorching temperatures broke new records for the planet this summer, outdoor workers are increasingly vulnerable. In the U.S., there is no federal protections for heat and labor._ by [Brody Ford / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Brody Ford / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2023 4:25 PM CUT  A pedestrian takes a picture of the Zoom Video Communications Inc. pavilion ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023\. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20\. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images A pedestrian takes a picture of the Zoom Video Communications Inc. pavilion ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023\. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20\. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg via Getty Images by [Brody Ford / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Brody Ford / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2023 4:25 PM CUT Zoom Video Communications Inc., a one-time darling of the work-from-home era, is calling workers back to the office. Employees who live near a Zoom location must be on-site two days a week, a company spokesperson said. A “hybrid approach” is most effective for Zoom, she said, because it will be in “a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate and support our global customers.” The company’s eponymous video-conferencing software was a breakout hit of the pandemic as entire industries were forced to communicate virtually. Since then, companies as varied as [Amazon.com Inc.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-31/amazon-workers-walk-out-to-protest-climate-office-return-policy "undefined"), [Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-06/chipotle-cmg-tells-corporate-staff-to-be-in-office-four-days-a-week "undefined") and [BlackRock Inc.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-16/blackrock-pushes-employees-back-to-the-office-four-days-a-week "undefined") have increased the amount of time employees must spend on site. Still, many offices remain lightly used, and there are signs that some roles may remain remote. Offices in the Northeast [were only at peak capacity](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-03/work-from-home-latest-midwest-office-visits-highest-in-us "undefined") 24% of the time in the first half of the year, according to [data](https://basking.io/research/q2-2023-global-occupancy-benchmarks-the-future-of-work "undefined") from [Basking.io](https://basking.io/ "undefined"), a workplace-occupancy analytics company. [Listings for remote jobs](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-25/work-from-home-endures-defying-pushback-from-bosses-like-dimon "undefined") have also trended up in many cities. ### More From TIME Zoom itself has [struggled to keep](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-22/zoom-raises-annual-sales-forecast-signaling-customers-faith "undefined") growing in a post-pandemic world. While its share price quintupled from March to October 2020, the stock has since retreated to pre-pandemic levels. In an effort to resuscitate growth, Zoom is developing a wider suite of software tools for big businesses, including in-office collaboration products. It has invested in startup Anthropic to include artificial intelligence in its software for managing and automating customer service requests. [Insider earlier reported](https://www.businessinsider.com/zoom-tells-employees-return-to-office-remote-work-video-conferencing-2023-8 "undefined") Zoom’s new office policy. While many chief executives want employees back five days a week, “I think the hybrid work is going to stay,” Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan said during a May earnings call. “I think hybrid work does bring another kind of huge opportunity to us.” —With assistance from Matthew Boyle and Alex Tanzi. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6302301/zoom-back-to-the-office/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6302301/zoom-back-to-the-office/"},"headline":"Even Zoom Is Calling Employees Back to the Office","datePublished":"2023-08-07T16:25:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:53:07.041Z","description":"Zoom, which helped millions work from home during the pandemic, is requiring employees return to the office.","url":"https://time.com/6302301/zoom-back-to-the-office/","keywords":["Tech","wire","bloomberg wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa86cf432a99d59/698a3f50929fad3322bfa0c7/Zoom-back-to-office.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Brody Ford / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa86cf432a99d59/698a3f50929fad3322bfa0c7/Zoom-back-to-office.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Preparations Ahead of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023","caption":"A silhouetted person poses in front of a Zoom sign","creditText":"Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6302301/zoom-back-to-the-office/","name":"Even Zoom Is Calling Employees Back to the Office"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Heat Makes Outdoor Work Dangerous","description":"As scorching temperatures broke new records for the planet this summer, outdoor workers are increasingly vulnerable. 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