Zoom exec calls in-office work mandate a 'success' — despite working remotely himself

Zoom's chief people officer says a return to in-person office work has resulted in an increase of creativity for employees – other employees, at least. The executive, Matthew Saxon, still works predominantly remotely, he said in an interview with Fortune.

(NEXSTAR) – Zoom's chief people officer says a return to in-person office work has resulted in an increase of creativity for employees — other employees, at least. The executive, Matthew Saxon, still works predominantly remotely, he said in an interview with Fortune.

The reason for the discrepancy is because Zoom's back-to-office mandate only applies to certain employees, Fortune reports. Those who live 50 miles or fewer from one of the company's four U.S. corporate offices — in San Jose, California; Santa Barbara, California; Denver, Colorado; and Kansas City, Kansas — are required to come in two days per week.

Saxon, meanwhile, lives in Austin, Texas, he told Fortune. Therefore, he remains a remote employee with few exceptions.

"I think I can manage people at Zoom effectively while working fully remotely," he said in the interview. "I go into the office from time to time, obviously, for my role, but the majority of the time, I’m home."

Zoom declined Nexstar's request for comment.

Even though Zoom is best known as an application used by remote workers, Saxon said the company's two-day-per-week mandate has been a "success," leading to the discovery of more efficiencies and creative solutions.

But a recent USA Today survey found remote work remains popular with office workers. When asked how many days they'd like to spend working in the office, the largest share of respondents (36%) said zero. Only 17% said they'd prefer to work five days in the office.

Some tech companies have faced significant pushback following return-to-office mandates. When Dell gave workers a choice this year to either come into the office about three days a week or remain remote (but become ineligible for promotions), about half of full-time employees opted to stay remote, Business Insider reported.