Dell has told all staff that live near its workplaces that they must now return to the office five days per week.
The tech giant spent last year toughening up its return to office (RTO) policies, and in September demanded certain sections of its staff to come back five days a week.
That has now been extended to all employees who live within an hour of the office and have been enjoying hybrid or remote working arrangements – the mandate is set to kick in next month.
“Retiring the Hybrid Policy”
Dell’s more stringent RTO policy was first reported by Business Insider (paywalled), which saw an internal memo sent to staff on Friday.
Addressed from CEO Michael Dell, it told staff that company was “retiring the hybrid policy” for all team members who live near a Dell office, and that the new rules would be effective from Monday, March 3rd.
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The memo explained that collaboration and efficiency are the primary motivations for the decision. “What we’re finding is that for all the technology in the world,” it reads, “nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction”
“A thirty-second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days.” – Michael Dell
From Flexible to Forced
The announcement is unlikely to surprise too many Dell staff or anybody who has been tracking the company’s shifting policies over the last couple of years, despite its reassurances that it holds a flexible ethos.
Way back in August 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, a Dell executive said that they imagined that “60 percent of our workforce will stay remote or have a hybrid schedule where they work from home mostly and come into the office one or two days a week”.
By May 2023, it became one of a number of companies that ordered staff back to the office as the impact of the pandemic waned, requiring employees living within an hour of a major Dell office to come in a minimum of three days per week.
A revised RTO mandate came into effect this time last year that specified in-office attendance of 39 days per quarter, applying to all staff. But it became clear over the course of the year that Dell’s remote workers would be disadvantaged, with in-office employees receiving incentives and a greater chance of earning promotions.
Despite a backlash from staff, the direction of travel has been obvious – culminating in members of Dell’s Global Sales Team being forced back into the office five days a week from last September.
Writing on the Wall for Remote Work
Any Dell workers hoping that their employer would stop short from ordering a full 5-day RTO won’t have found much solace looking around at other big tech companies.
While Elon Musk has held a totalitarian anti-remote working approach at his companies from day one, Amazon ended hybrid working in September – a move that was seen by many as setting the a new standard within the industry.
And with returning president Donald Trump making his feelings plain on the subject – issuing an RTO mandate for government execs on his first day back on the job – we expect to see more companies announce an end to remote working through 2025.
