Uber has become the latest big tech firm to announce employees will work on site and remotely when its offices reopen, saying a “hybrid model” will promote productivity and workplace camaraderie.
The rideshare company said that starting in September, employees can work from home up to two days a week, but “with a clear expectation that they also come into the office 3 days a week.”
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Uber notified workers in August 2020 that they should expect to work from home through June. It extended the policy through Sept. 13 in February.
According to Nikki Krishnamurthy, Uber’s chief people officer, its employee data showed that two-thirds of its workforce prefer a hybrid model, with many staffers saying they missed “the camaraderie and connections of in-person office culture.”
“We feel that this combination of in-person and remote work will give people the freedom to do their best work while staying connected to their colleagues,” she said Wednesday in a blog post.
As CNN reports, “Several of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies are slowly starting to reopen offices after being among the first to close them last year, offering a potential road map for what office work looks like in year two of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Both Salesforce and Microsoft have said they will introduce a hybrid model while Twitter, Square, Dropbox, and Coinbase are among a handful of large firms letting employees work from home permanently.
About 66% of office workers surveyed in a recent study from Chicago-based real estate services firm JLL said they want to work in a hybrid model. Almost three-quarters of employees agreed that having the ability to go to the office remains fundamental, with 70% believing the office environment is more conducive to connecting with colleagues.
Uber firm has around 3,500 employees in the San Francisco Bay Area and more than 22,000 worldwide.
The “hypercompetitive,” fast-paced environment at Uber “makes it all the more important we stay connected to each other and to our customers, and to optimize not just for employee productivity, but also for teamwork and collaboration,” Krishnamurthy said.
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