Dell introduces new rule: If you are not in the office, you will not be promoted

Silicon Valley vs. home office
Dell introduces new rule: If you are not in the office, you will not be promoted

For years, the tech industry has been trying to lure its employees from home offices back to the office. Dell is now relying on a draconian regulation. The PC company has long been a pioneer.

No commute, comfortable workplace and lots of peace and quiet: working from home has many advantages for employees. But although the rules have relaxed for many employers since the pandemic, more and more companies are now saying: back to the office. But this is particularly difficult in Silicon Valley. At computer manufacturers Dell is now making a tough announcement: If you want to change positions or even get promoted, you have to come to the office.

This is reported by “Business Insider”, citing sources in the company. Accordingly, the group had already announced in February that the workforce would come back to the office more. To do this, employees should be divided into the “Hybrid” or “Remote” category. But the consequences of remote working have only now become known.

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Home office only has disadvantages

“If you want to work remotely, you should be aware of the disadvantages,” says the company in internal documents, according to the “Insider”. And they have it all: “For team members to take a career step, including applying for other positions within the company, they must be classified as hybrid workers.” In plain language, this means: You can continue to work remotely – but only as long as you want to keep exactly the same job. Otherwise you have to change.

What this means is clearly defined: Dell’s employees have 39 days per quarter to come to the office in an “approved” location. This corresponds to almost three days per working week. The addition of approved offices in particular is likely to be a challenge: if you live further away, you cannot rent your own office nearby with colleagues; you have to get to the official workplaces. For the employees, some of whom are spread across the country, this often means: remote or moving.

Dell pioneered remote work

The regulation comes as a surprise at Dell, especially because the company allowed remote work well before the pandemic. For almost ten years, Dell employees have been able to freely choose where they want to work, so many have avoided the expensive tech capitals on the US coast, moving to the cheaper countryside with the comfortable salary – or staying there straight away.

“If you’re relying on enforced working hours in a traditional office to promote collaboration and create a sense of belonging within your company, you’re doing it wrong,” company boss Michael Dell personally complained on Linked.in just a few years ago. But that now seems to have changed. “Personal connections in person, together with a flexible approach, are the critical factor for innovation and value differentiation,” a spokesman told Insider.

The mood is correspondingly bad. “The entire workforce is complaining about it behind the scenes,” an employee told Insider. “In the past, Dell only cared about the work, not the location.” For many, this even contradicts Dell’s argument that people work more personally in the office. “Each team is spread across two states, some across three or four,” says one employee. “So I walk into a room with people who don’t understand my job and who can’t help me.”

What is it really about?

Dell’s decision joins a long line of tech companies that are trying to force their employees into the office. While companies like Google, Apple and others initially tried goodies like parties and free buffets, over time the thumbscrews were tightened more and more.

Even if companies usually cite hopes for better collaboration as the reason, the return to the office is often simply for financial reasons. On the one hand, there is of course the expensive office space that was vacant, especially for tech companies, in prime locations in Silicon Valley. On the other hand, the step also offers the opportunity to reduce the number of employees in a cost-effective way. If you don’t want to or can’t afford to move, you’ll just have to look for something else. At Dell, too, the decision follows a wave of layoffs: the company had thrown 6,500 employees out the door a good year ago.

One of the most prominent examples of the end of the home office was a company that had benefited massively from remote work: video conferencing provider Zoom decided in August that its employees had to come to the office regularly again. In contrast to Dell, they at least accommodated colleagues who were further away: the rule only applies to employees who live less than 80 kilometers from the nearest office.

Sources:Business Insider, Ars Technica, New York Times

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