Roblox CEO says employees have to return to the office, or will be fired

Metavives October 18, 2023

Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki has told employees that they should return to the office of walk away from the business.

In an update shared with the entire company, Baszucki explained that most workers would be required to work from the office three days per week, from Tuesday to Thursday, or “take a severance package.”

Like many other companies, the decision has been based on productivity levels and benefits relating to ad-hoc conversations.

Roblox office-based working

Several months after many companies started to demand a mass return to the office, Roblox has announced its plans to do the same. Remote and hybrid workers will be asked to return to the San Mateo, California office “by next summer.”

In the announcement, Baszucki noted that new and young employees, in particular, benefit from the social contact that is only achievable in the office, allowing them to be part of spur-of-the-moment conversations and be mentored by seniors.

Reflecting on his first post-quarantine, in-person meeting, Baszucki said: “Within 45 minutes I came away from three separate conversations with spontaneous to do’s and ideas to put in motion, something that hadn’t happened during the past few years of video meetings.”

Citing an optimism around engaging, collaborative, and productive virtual workspaces, he adds: “We aren’t there yet.”

The new rule applies to all workers, with the exception of those who need to be remote, and “individuals who have niche skill sets or significant institutional knowledge.”

Set out at the bottom of the announcement are a series of deadlines for workers to make their decisions, relocate, and work from the office.

Roblox says that it will “assist with relocation costs.” We asked the company what this means, and for more details about its severance packages, but we did not receive an immediate response.

Roblox office-based working

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