No more working from home: Dell brings its employees back to the office

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An end to working from home for the Dell workforce: In an email, CEO Michael Dell is calling on employees who work partially or completely from home to return to the office five days a week.

The new presence requirement applies to all those who live up to an hour's drive away from their place of work. According to the usual US standards, this probably means driving time. The regulation is due to come into force from March 3rd, as reported by Business Insider. Those who live further away will initially be allowed to continue working from home.

"A 30-second conversation can replace an email"

No technology in the world is as fast as human interaction, Dell emphasized in his email. "A 30-second conversation can replace an email that travels back and forth for hours or days," he said, citing one example.

He added that employees should hold back on asking questions for the time being. "We are still working on the details, more information will be available soon," Dell wrote.

Exceptions are possible

Business Insider (BI) also published Dell's full email to its staff. According to BI, Dell managers could ask for exceptions to the presence requirement for individual team members. Although there is usually enough space for all employees in the Dell offices, there are also exceptions. Dell confirmed to BI that it would be phasing out the home office. According to a spokesperson, the company wants to focus on more personal collaboration to advance its market leadership.

Last year, Dell had already held out the prospect of disadvantages for employees who did not want to return to the office three days a week. About a year ago, the computer manufacturer threatened that those who refused would no longer be able to expect promotions or new tasks. This backfired: around half of all employees willingly accepted these restrictions and preferred to stay at home. The current course is likely to be the harsh response to the company's unwillingness to cultivate a stronger culture of presence again.

In the office for video conferences

In some cases, however, this does not seem to exist – or has not existed since corona: One employee interviewed last year explained that his team works all over the world anyway and that he would therefore only take part in video conferences in the office –, so there was no obvious advantage to working in person. Other reasons given by the employees surveyed for opting to work from home, despite the disadvantages, included the financial benefits of not having to pay for commuting and meals at work. As well as the flexibility gained in terms of balancing work, family and other private life.

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