Snap employees are poised to spend most of their working hours in an office starting early next year.
As of February 27, Snap employees will be required to work in an office at least four days a week, a person familiar with the plans said. This was announced Monday during CEO Evan Spiegel's weekly chat and Q&A with employees. The change represents a shift from the company's current policy, which is "remote first" and allows employees to work from home or elsewhere.
"After working remotely for so long we're excited to get everyone back together next year with our new 80/20 hybrid model," a Snap representative said. "We believe that being together in person, while retaining flexibility for our team members, will enhance our ability to deliver on our strategic priorities of growing our community, driving revenue growth, and leading in AR."
Several employees don't feel the same. One employee reacting to the change simply wrote "no" 17 times in a message seen by Insider. Another employee said the change felt like "punishment" for "poor management" at Snap, which over-hired during the coronavirus pandemic and struggled this year to recover from Apple's privacy changes hitting its advertising-based business. Another called the decision "total bs" and said they'd start looking for other work.
Since the pandemic first broke out in 2020, many tech companies have maintained work-from-home or even work-from-"anywhere" policies. Facebook is continuing to allow employees to work remotely and plans to close some offices as part of new cost-cutting efforts. Other companies, like Apple, began requiring people to work in office three days a week. Twitter, under its new owner, Elon Musk, is demanding full-time in-office work.
Snap enacted mass layoffs in September, culling about 20% of its staff. Though employees had expected layoffs to some extent, the scale of the layoffs came as a shock to many given Spiegel's comments about Snap's declining advertising business and a hiring freeze, as Insider reported.
Since the layoffs, Snap has continued build out its advertising capabilities while cutting costs. The company is closing its office in San Francisco, as Insider reported. A spokesman at the time noted how little the office had been used since the company went to a "flexible work policy" during the pandemic.
Are you a Snap employee or someone else with insight to share? Contact Kali Hays at khays@insider.com, on the secure messaging app Signal at 949-280-0267, or through Twitter DM at @hayskali. Reach out using a nonwork device.
