Ride-hailing giant Uber has announced that all employees, including those previously granted work-from-home permissions, must return to the office.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that simply meeting expectations will no longer suffice as the company pushes for higher performance standards.
Industry analysts are considering this move as part of a broader trend of tech companies coming back to their usual routine before the outbreak of the pandemic.
First reported by CNBC, this decision will affect thousands of employees worldwide operating under approved remote work arrangements.
New policy issued by Uber
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi elaborated on the new policy in a letter to the staff, 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 at Uber 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 claiming that in-person work improves outcomes across teams.
The CEO also accentuated 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.”
Tech firms under pressure?
The mandate comes amid increasing pressure on tech organisations to enhance productivity and efficiency in a challenging economic environment.
Uber joins leading tech businesses like Amazon, Google, and Meta that have recently tightened their remote work policies.