Meta Is Fully Embracing Remote Work, But Is Now The Right Time?

Technology companies are leading the workforce in adopting remote and hybrid work arrangements following the lessons of the last few years. 

Among these firms is Meta, formerly known as Facebook, which has become increasingly distributed since the onset of the pandemic. Even CEO Mark Zuckerberg has embraced this opportunity, working from locations all over the world far from the firm’s headquarters in Silicon Valley.  

Tracy Clayton, a spokesperson for Meta, said that Zuckerberg will spend over half of his time in California and work remotely for the rest of the year. 

Chief Marketing Officer Alex Schultz has plans to move to the UK, while Meta’s head of product Naomi Gleit has relocated to New York. 

Meta’s Chief Growth Officer Javier Olivan is splitting his time between California and Europe. Last week, the company also announced that it would double its offices and expand its workforce in Olivan’s home country of Spain. 

“The past few years have brought new possibilities around the ways we connect and work,” said Clayton. “We believe that how people work is far more important than where they work from.”  

Following its rebranding, Meta has heavily embraced a more distributed workforce, investing into various technologies that support remote working. 

However, the company is facing other challenges. Last month, the company saw its stock prices tumble over 32% after it revealed a disappointing fourth-quarter 2021 earnings report, declining user base, and the impact of advertising restrictions put in place by Apple. 

According to Edward Jones Analyst David Heger, these issues make the embrace of remote work seem unwise. 

“Considering the juncture that the company’s at right at the moment, it may not be the ideal time to be experimenting with your top managers working remotely,” said Heger.