British electronics manufacturer Nothing has told its London-based employees that they will be expected to return to the office (RTO) five days a week, transitioning from its current hybrid model.
Acknowledging the controversial nature of the decision, the company’s CEO, Carl Pei, cited nurturing creativity, the physical nature of product manufacture, and the levels of the company’s ambition as reasons for the return-to-office mandate.
Pei joins a host of other CEOs pushing for the return to office, as companies continue to find a balance between growth and the well being of their employees.
All or Nothing
Carl Pei – previously the co-founder of Chinese phone company OnePlus – announced the policy decision to staff by email last Friday, before posting the email’s contents on social media platform LinkedIn.
After noting that Nothing is the fastest growing smartphone brand in India, Pei asserted that the company is currently only “at 0.1% of our potential,” and that remote or hybrid working would not allow it to fully realize its potential.
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Pei pointed out that remote working was previously a necessity, having started up the company during COVID.
“We are at 0.1% of our potential. With the solid start we’ve made, we really have the chance to create a generational tech company that can change the world. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity that we’ve earned together, and now it’s time to double down.” – Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing
While staff at Nothing’s London HQ have until now enjoyed a hybrid model of working, its other sites have previously already transitioned to in-office only.
Three Reasons for RTO
Pei cited three primary reasons for the full return-to-office policy, starting with the fact that Nothing makes “physical products where design, engineering, manufacturing and quality have to collaborate closely together to deliver products to our users”. This does not, Pei says, function well remotely.
Creativity and innovation were his next reason, with Pei saying that solving difficult problems to get ahead of better-resourced competitors was harder to do from a remote setting.
The rather abstract notion of Nothing’s ‘ambition level’ was the third and final reason given. “Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed,” said Pei, in his pursuit of realizing a “generation-defining company”.
The RTO Revolution
Nothing joins a cavalcade of companies that have ended remote work. Some of the most notable examples of those requiring a full time return-to-office include Elon Musk’s operations (eg. X, Tesla, etc), Goldman Sachs and, for the time at least that Grand Theft Auto VI is in production, gaming company Rockstar.
Pei admitted in his post that some companies with remote working policies thrive and that he would lose some staff for who this would not be “the right type of setup”.
“Some may be worried about flexibility, but this is no different from pre-COVID. This is a company for grown ups, so if you need to be out of office to deal with some issues, we trust you to make the right decision.” – Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing
With 140 comments and counting, they range from the congratulatory (“great decision, I fully understand why you made it… overall nothing beats F2F collaboration in some cases.”) to the derisive (“Disappointing. You struck me as a breath of fresh air… The productivity and innovation excuse makes you sound just like any other stereotypical old CEO.”)
