Zoom is recalling Australian employees to its Sydney office as the video calling company adopts hybrid home working

Zoom, the video conferencing company that rose to fame during the Covid pandemic, has sent its Australian staff back to the office.

Employees from the company’s Sydney office – in addition to their international colleagues – have joined employees of numerous other companies such as Transurban and BHP in having to show up in person.

In a statement, a Zoom spokesperson described the new workplace rules as “a structured hybrid approach,” requiring employees who live near the office to be present in person at least two days a week.

The move reflects a broader trend in the economy as bosses desperately try to get staff back to the office after remote working arrangements became the norm for more than four million workers across the country.

Zoom said the changes were made to “put the company in a better position to leverage our proprietary technologies, continue to innovate and support our global customers.”

In July, the decision by the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) to require its nearly 50,000 employees to spend at least 50 percent of their working hours in the office was met with fierce opposition.

“We will continue to use the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and distributed teams connected and working efficiently,” it added.

Many bosses met with strong opposition to mandating a return to the office, and some faced backlash against employees who value the flexibility that remote work arrangements provide.

In July, the decision by the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) to require its nearly 50,000 employees to spend at least 50 percent of their working hours in the office was met with fierce opposition.

After the banking giant refused to withdraw the mandate, the Finance Sector Union (FSU), a union for banking workers, responded by filing a dispute with the industry arbitrator. The Fair Work Commission has yet to rule on the matter.

“The return-to-office mandate is clearly unnecessary and we are therefore disappointed that the CBA chose not to address these important concerns during the Fair Work process,” said FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano. Thursday.

But not all workplaces follow the trend of hybrid working. Last month, the country’s second-largest retail bank, National Australia Bank, signed a new pay agreement with its 25,000 employees that enshrines the right to work from home.

Similarly, federal officials won the right to unlimited work-from-home days in a historic union-backed deal in July.

The two-day-a-week mandate introduced by Zoom is supported by research from Harvard Business School, which found that employees needing to spend one to two days in the office “is probably the sweet spot, where employees enjoy flexibility yet aren’t.” isolated compared to peers who predominantly work from home’.

“The return-to-office mandate is clearly unnecessary and we are therefore disappointed that the CBA chose not to address these important concerns during the Fair Work process,” said FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano. Thursday.

In the study, employees who were randomly selected to go to work one to two days a week seemed to show an improvement in both the quality and quantity of their output, as measured by their email activity and evaluations of their supervisors.

Jessica Tinsley, head of workplace relations at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said hybrid work arrangements were becoming more common, but they would not suit every worker or company.

“We find that most employers try to accommodate the needs of their employees where possible, offering fair and flexible arrangements for remote working where possible,” she said.

This is welcome and should be encouraged. However, we should avoid a ‘one size fits all’ approach. It is simply not possible for some employees to work from home.

“The tight labor market has forced employers to work even harder to attract and retain talent, but companies are also recognizing the wider benefits of boosting labor force participation by introducing greater flexibility.