Snap employees to work from office starting February

A banner for Snap Inc. hangs on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the morning of the company's IPO in New York, U.S., March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RTS116CL

Snap Inc will require 80 per cent of its employees to return to office from end-February, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Monday.

"After working remotely for so long, we're excited to get everyone back together next year with our new 80/20 hybrid model," the company spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Bloomberg News first reported the development and said the owner of photo messaging app Snapchat had asked its employees to be in office four days a week starting in February.

The tech industry was among the first to allow employees to work from home when COVID-19 hit the United States in 2020. But the extent to which tech companies are embracing permanent remote work is now diverging.

Last month, ride-hailing service Uber asked its employees to work from office twice a week.

Santa Monica, California-based Snap said in August it would lay off 20% of all staff and shut down projects to cut costs amid a deteriorating economy.

Reuters had earlier reported citing a memo that Snap Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel wrote despite reducing spending in some areas, the company must now "face the consequences of our lower revenue growth and adapt to the market environment".