Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has announced its return-to-office (RTO) policy, requiring all employees assigned to an office to work from that office or participate in in-person work at least three days a week. The company’s head of human resources, Lori Goler, stated that accountability will be central to making the policy fair and effective. Meta’s managers will follow up with workers on a monthly basis to ensure compliance, and repeated violations may result in disciplinary action, performance rating drop, and termination if not addressed.
The company first informed employees of its RTO efforts in June, stating that employees hired to work in an office should return for at least part of the week. The announcement came after CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly and internally praised the benefits of in-office work. Most new hires will be obliged to work in the office under the new policy, with the exception of those who are employed for uncommon entirely remote employment. Employees can apply to be fully remote after 18 months and with favorable performance reviews.
While Meta still allows some remote work, the overall shift away from it is a major departure from the pro-remote-work stance it adopted early on in the pandemic. Zuckerberg hoped to have “50% or more of the company” working distributed and working remotely by the end of the decade, and Meta’s metaverse was supposed to further usher in an era of remote work options.
