Austin. As vaccination campaigns kick off, tech talent are returning to the office. After a year of remote work and distributed teams, most tech companies decided to adopt a hybrid model and come back to the office to some extent.
Austin is the home for many tech leaders and businesses. According to Conference Calls, Austin is the third best city for remote workers because of its low cost of living and WiFi speed. However, last year was a battleground for most companies. Remote work became a better option to some, while others experienced a loss in productivity and team-building.
Despite the city being one of the best locations for remote work, some companies don’t want to give up physical work and office culture.
6 Tech Companies Returning To The Office
Amazon
With almost 1,000 corporate employees, Amazon expects its U.S. employees to return to the office in the summer. According to Amazon guidance, from March, about 10% of the company’s employees were already working from the office full-time. By the end of summer, the company expects employees to be back to almost full capacity.
Apple
Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook informed his 7,000 employees that they would return to the office three days a week starting in early September. In addition, employees can work remotely for only two weeks per year only if managers approve the requests.
Dell Technologies
Dell counts 13,000 employees in Central Texas. Most roles will stay remote. Pre-pandemic, the company allowed flexible options (65%), and 30% of employees worked remotely a day per week. Last March, almost 90% of the company’s employees turned to remote work. Rather than returning to the office full-time, the tech company is encouraging hybrid models and flexible options.
Facebook’s Austin 1,200 employees are still working remotely. The media company is still developing its return-to-office plan.
Google didn’t share the return to the office planning for its 1,100 Austin employees. However, CEO Sundar Pichai shared a post saying that the company will adopt a hybrid model. The office time will focus on collaborations, and the rest of the time working from home. In addition, employees can choose whether to relocate to another office or work from home full-time. Pichai expects 60% will opt for a hybrid schedule, 20% will relocate, and 20% will work remotely full-time.
IBM
Around 90% of IBM’s 6,000 Austin employees are still working remotely. However, CEO Arvind Krishna expects 80% of employees to work in a hybrid model and the rest completely remote. The CEO shares his concerns on the impact of remote work on company culture, but the company will now opt for a hybrid and flexible approach.
