Bolt, Uber´s Estonian rival, called its employees back to the office three days a week.
The CEO, Markus Villig, revoked the company’s flexible work policy, which he believes led to staff being scattered across the world.
He introduced a new mandatory policy requiring all employees to work from the office three days a week or 12 days per month.
In an internal memo, Villig said it was a “disgrace” that less than half of employees worked in the office for at least two days each week. He also criticised employees logging in from the beach.
“We are too scattered, people feel disconnected, attrition is too high, and our offices lie empty,” Villig said. “We will stop the insanity of people working remotely from places like Bali. That is a vacation, not what we hired them to do,” he added.
He urged the team managers to lend their support by leading by example and creating a “fun” office environment. He also asked them to monitor and manage the poor attendance of employees working from home too much.
Additionally, Mr Villig described the new policy as “generous” compared to other companies.
He said working in person will improve relationship-building, communication and mental well-being among employees.
“We are absolutely fine if some people decide this is not for them, as the cultural impact far outweighs it,” the CEO said.
Bolt’s global employer branding manager Grete Kivi separately defended the new policy.
“Working at Bolt is not for everyone. We’re fast-paced, and you’re expected to perform to the highest standard. Bolt has never been a remote-first company, and we’ve been clear about that from the start,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
Notably, the shift to hybrid means staff will still have some flexibility. This means people should live within travel distance to a Bolt office.
The transportation app employs 4,000 people across 50 countries, including the UK.
