There has been a lot of debate over hybrid, remote, and work from office policies of companies. Some companies have made mandatory return to offices whereas some other tech companies continue to offer hybrid — a few days remote and some from office. Smartphone brand Nothing has now made it mandatory for all its employees to come to office. Nothing CEO Carl Pei sent an email to all employees explaining his reasons.
“I know this is a controversial decision that may not be a fit for everyone,” Pei told employees, and added that but “that’s not right for our type of business, and won’t help us fully realise our potential as a company.”
Pei’s cited three reasons and said that since Nothing makes products where collaboration is important, remote work doesn’t go down well. “Not only in products, we also need to solve difficult problems and do more with way less resources than competitors in all areas of our business,” he told employees.
The CEO also said that it’s understandable if people don’t find work from office right for them. “We know it’s not the right type of setup for everybody, and that’s OK. We should look for a mutual fit. You should find an environment where you thrive, and we need to find people who want to go the full mile with us in the decades ahead,” he said.
“Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed,” Pei wrote in his email.
The Nothing CEO also shared the email on his LinkedIn. Here’s his email in full:
“We’ve come a long way in a short space of time. We are the only company to have established a smartphone business in the last 10 years. We are the fastest growing smartphone brand in India at 567% YoY.
Yet, we are at 0.1% of our potential. With the solid start we’ve made, we really have the chance to create a generational tech company that can change the world. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity that we’ve earned together, and now it’s time to double down.
We started Nothing during COVID, and had to make do with working remotely at first. Later on, we transitioned to hybrid in London and in-office at our other sites. Now, we are announcing the transition to in-office in London too.
I know this is a controversial decision that may not be a fit for everyone, and there are definitely companies out there that thrive in remote or hybrid setups. But that’s not right for our type of business, and won’t help us fully realize our potential as a company. There are three key reasons for this.
First of all, we make physical products where design, engineering, manufacturing and quality have to collaborate closely together to deliver products to our users. This does not work well remotely.
Second, creativity and innovation are really key to us winning against bigger companies. Not only in products, we also need to solve difficult problems and do more with way less resources than competitors in all areas of our business. This does not work well remotely.
Lastly, our ambition level is different from many peer companies started at the same time. We are not looking to create a good business that gets acquired by a big company, we are looking to realize our full potential of becoming a generation-defining company. And we’re really serious about moving fast. Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed.
Some may be worried about flexibility, but this is no different from pre-COVID. This is a company for grown ups, so if you need to be out of office to deal with some issues, we trust you to make the right decision. In fact, some roles like sales and PR need to be out of the office meeting with customers and press regularly.
We know it’s not the right type of setup for everybody, and that’s OK. We should look for a mutual fit. You should find an environment where you thrive, and we need to find people who want to go the full mile with us in the decades ahead.
This takes effect two months from now. In our next Town Hall in London, we can take live questions if there are any.
Thank you all for the progress we’ve made together so far, and I’m looking forward to learning, growing, and building the next stage of the company with you all.”
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