In a decisive shift, Uber has told employees that all previously approved work-from-home arrangements will be discontinued, requiring staff to return to physical offices by June 30, as reported by CNBC. The move affects thousands of workers globally and comes as part of the company’s renewed push for in-person collaboration and heightened performance standards.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi outlined the new policy in a letter to employees, warning that the era of leniency on remote work is over. “We need to raise our standards across the board. The bar has been raised, and ‘good’ is simply not going to be good enough moving forward,” he wrote. “Our most productive collaborations happen when we’re physically together.”
Effective July 1, all legacy work-from-home permissions will be void. Employees who still wish to work remotely must now apply for fresh accommodations through HR, though Uber clarified that approvals will be rare and based on exceptional circumstances. “Approval criteria will be substantially more rigorous. We expect the vast majority of our team to be in the office full-time,” the CEO said, according to CNBC.
Khosrowshahi cited internal data suggesting that in-person work improves outcomes across teams. He also stressed the cultural benefits of physical presence: “This isn’t just about productivity metrics—it’s about building the culture that will drive Uber’s next phase of growth. The energy of our offices cannot be replicated through screens.”
Uber’s decision aligns with a wider trend in Silicon Valley, as tech companies roll back pandemic-era flexibility in favor of more structured work environments. Amazon, Meta, and Google have similarly reinstated return-to-office mandates in recent months, amid mounting pressure to boost productivity in a more constrained economic climate.