New Delhi, June 2: After more than three years since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted widespread remote work, companies are now shifting back to offices. Meta (formerly known as Facebook) is the latest tech company to call its employees back to the office.

The social media giant has informed employees currently assigned to an office that they should return to in-person work three days a week. The new rules start from September 5. Meta Threatens To Block News on Facebook, Instagram if California’s Journalism Preservation Act Passes.

The company's spokesperson also emphasized that the updated policy is not final. Also, remote workers can continue working remotely.

“We’re committed to distributed work, and we’re confident people can make a meaningful impact both from the office and at home. We’re also committed to continuously refining our model to foster the collaboration, relationships, and culture necessary for employees to do their best work," the company stated.

This shift in policy aligns with CEO Mark Zuckerberg's earlier indication in a March blog post. He mentioned that internal analysis at Meta revealed that engineers who joined the company in person tended to perform better on average compared to those who joined remotely.

The Facebook founder also speculated that in-person interactions and relationships fostered trust, ultimately enhancing productivity. "This requires further study, but our hypothesis is that it is still easier to build trust in person and that those relationships help us work more effectively," he wrote.

Meta follows the trend set by other major corporations that have called for a return to in-person work for at least a few days per week this year. Meta owns popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Block Party Exits Twitter: Anti-Harassment Service Leaves Elon Musk-Led Platform As API Access Goes Behind Paywall.

Amazon implemented an updated policy on May 1 which requires employees to work in an office three days per week. This has been facing opposition from multiple workers. Earlier this year, Disney also implemented a four-day-per-week in-person work requirement.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2023 10:42 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).