In a move that is starting to become all too familiar in the world of work, Dell has told some of its employees that they are expected to return to the office five days a week.
According to an internal memo, the Global Sales Team are affected, with updates on other remote workers to come at a later date.
It follows the news last week that Amazon has also told staff to come back to the office full time.
Dell Tells Staff Remote Work is Over
In an internal memo, seen by Reuters, Dell has told employees of its Global Sales Team that they are to return to the office five days a week, beginning next Monday (September 30th).
The reason given for the change is to enable the team to ‘collaborate’ and ‘grow skills’, with the communication adding that working remotely should be seen as the ‘exception rather than the rule.’
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Previously, the team had only been expected in the office three days a week.
The memo also mentions that there will be further updates on remote workers in the coming weeks.
Worried your company might be next? Read the 7 telltale signs that a company is ending remote work.
Trouble at Dell
The demand that the Global Sales Team return to the office full time is just the latest in a long line of troublesome news for its employees.
In May of last year the company told staff that they were to ditch remote work and return to the office three days a week. Following this, staff when then told that if they didn’t comply, the risked future promotion opportunities. Those who continued to resist the move had their records marked with a red flag.
Needless to say, all this has had a negative effect on Dell’s workforce, with the latest internal staff survey showing that morale within the company has plummeted. This latest news is unlikely to change that.
As if this ordeal wasn’t bad enough for Dell workers, this week we reported that a data breach has leaked the data of more than 10,000 members of staff.
Is a Full Office Return the New Normal?
With last week’s news that Amazon has told staff to return to the office five days a week, and now Dell following suit, it may seem that the days of remote work and hybrid are over.
Right now, Dell and Amazon are the outliers, joining a handful of other companies such as Musk’s Tesla and X. However, as more companies call staff back, we may see a domino effect, with pressure from CEOs and investors to stay competitive meaning more firms change their remote work policies.
It’s likely this would be a mistake. We’ve already seen from Dell’s return to office path that it has a negative effect on staff morale, and a recent poll from Blind showed that 71% of Amazon workers are considering quitting after the recently issued mandate.
There are still plenty of companies that are offering remote and hybrid roles. If you want to make the move away from the office, don’t forget to make your resume remote ready.
