Before and now: How the world's biggest tech companies changed their minds on remote working
Amazon and Google have both relaxed their attitudes to flexible working recently
Whether or not to return to the office after the Covid pandemic, and to what extent remote working should be allowed, has been a huge cause for consideration among tech companies in recent weeks.
Some of the world's biggest businesses have changed their minds when it comes to their approach, deciding to allow for more outside of the office working moving forward with employees seemingly keen for a hybrid approach to become the norm.
Tech giants, for the most part, seem to have settled on this approach to working when life returns to normality, but there are still notable differences between firms as to the amount of flexibility that should be permitted.
And in some cases, employees have been pushing back for greater flexibility, following the significant shift to remote working caused by the pandemic.
Here are where some of the biggest tech companies in the world currently stand on the issue, and how that has changed over the past few months…
Amazon
Speaker: Andy Jassy, AWS CEO (soon to be Amazon CEO)
Before: In March this year, the company said it was looking to return to an "office-centric culture" as its baseline because it enables its workforce to "invent, collaborate, and learn together most effectively", stating that it was aiming for a "gradual" return to the office.
That is despite Jassy telling CNBC in an interview last December that he did not expect employees would be "back to the office 100 per cent of the time the way that they did before."
While outlining several positives to remote working, including hiring people across more locations and greater involvement for those who worked remotely before the pandemic, he also highlighted some downsides to working from home.
"In many ways, invention is one of the hardest things to do virtually. That's because invention tends to be sloppy, it's not like you can just organise 45 minutes and say we're going to invent this product right now," he said.
"When two people talk at once it really cancels out the sound on both sides so people don't interrupt each other. You just don't riff the same way.
"For whatever reason, it's just really different to be interacting virtually than in person. There's just this connection, chemistry and bonding that you get being in person."
Now: Last week, however, Amazon issued new guidance which allowed for more flexible working, with corporate employees able to work from home two days per week. Four full weeks can also be used to work outside of the office.
"Like all companies and organisations around the world, we're managing every stage of this pandemic for the first time, learning and evolving as we go," the company said in a statement.
"Our thinking is predicated on what we believe will be most beneficial for customers, while also trying to give employees more flexibility in their work environment and lives.
"We recognise this is an unprecedented time. We're all figuring out how work will keep evolving and what will be best for customers, our teams, and individual employees."
Speaker: Sundar Pichai, CEO
Before: In December last year, Pichai sent out a memo to all ‘Googlers' on plans for a new hybrid way of working when it was safe to return to office. He outlined plans for a minimum of three days per week in the office, though said the pilot "wouldn't make sense for every role or every team".
Here's what he had to say:
"We believe that in-office collaboration will be just as important to Google's future as it's been to our past. The unpredictability still ahead for many regions creates some interesting challenges and opportunities for us as we start to bring Googlers back to the office.
"We're going to lean into them and experiment with a series of pilots designs to improve productivity, collaboration, and overall wellbeing."
Now: Last month, the tech giant relaxed its requirements for office working, stating that 20 per cent of its workforce is now expected to work permanently from home when offices reopen. Employees will also have the option to work completely remotely for up to four weeks per year.
"Before the pandemic, we had thousands of people working in locations separate from their core teams. I fully expect those numbers to increase in the coming months as we develop more remote roles, including fully all-remote sub teams," Pichai said.
"Our campuses have been at the heart of our Google community and the majority of our employees still want to be on campus some of the time. Yet many of us would also enjoy the flexibility of working from home a couple days of week, spending time in another city for part of the year, or even moving there permanently.
"Google's future workplace will have room for all of these possibilities."
Apple
Speaker: Tim Cook, CEO
Then: Until recently, it was unclear to what extent Apple would adopt remote working in a post-COVID world, but Cook has long said that that a hybrid model of working is something that would be widely used by businesses in the future.
In an interview at the Atlantic Festival last September, Cook said he did not believe Apple would return to being in the office all the time because "there are some things that actually work really well virtually", though did say that remote working was "not like being together physically".
Those were thoughts he echoed in an interview with People in March. "My gut says that, for us, it's still very important to physically be in touch with one another because collaboration isn't always a planned activity," he said.
"We have realised and learned that there are some things that are perfectly great to do virtually across Zoom or WebEx, whatever, or FaceTime, whatever you might have. So I think it'll be, I'll call it a hybrid environment [for] a little bit."
Now: Having previously expressed his desire to get Apple employees back into the office, earlier this month the vendor announced plans for three days in the office and two days outside, according to a memo seen by The Verge.
"For all that we've been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the truth is that there has been something essential missing from this past year: each other," he said.
"Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate.
"I know I'm not alone in missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration of our in-person meetings and the sense of community we've all built."
But these plans have sparked a strong backlash from some Apple employees, who, in an internal letter obtained by The Verge, have demanded greater flexibility than Cook outlined, claiming "Apple's remote/location-flexible work policy, and the communication around it, have already forced some of our colleagues to quit."
Time will tell whether Apple also decides to do a U-turn on its plans for hybrid working to allow for more flexibility, as called for in the letter.
What the others say
Tech companies have taken differing approaches to flexible working, but most plan to continue with outside of the office working in some form even when it is safe to fully re-open.
Microsoft last October said it envisaged working from home part of the time, but less than 50 per cent, as "now standard" for "most roles".
Facebook has embraced remote working, telling its employees that "anyone whose role can be done remotely can request remote work" after the pandemic is over, while fellow social media giant Twitter said its employees can work from home "forever" if they want to.
Others have yet to commit to a clear strategy, but it is expected that a mixture of home and office working is expected to be implemented by most tech firms when the COVID pandemic is over, particularly given the more relaxed approach some of the world's biggest companies are now taking.