Memo: CEO calls low office attendance a ‘disgrace’

• CEO of European taxi app Bolt force workers to return to the office 12 days a month.
• In the note, Markus Villig called it a “disgrace” that less than half of employees were in the office more than two days a week.
• He said the policy would help Bolt “maintain a strong culture” and “return to a high-performing” company.

The CEO of European mobile app Bolt didn’t mince words earlier this month when calling workers back to the office.

Bolt is an Uber competitor that offers services such as taxi hailing, food and grocery delivery, and e-scooter rentals on its app. Starting in January, Bolt will require all of its employees to work in the office at least 12 days a month, or approximately 3 days a week, the company confirmed to Business Insider.

CEO Markus Willig wrote in a note to employees that the company has “seen too much complacency” in recent years about where employees work and that they have a choice to either “relaunch our ambitious culture to compete in the big leagues” or “fall into mediocrity.”

“We are too spread out, people feel disconnected, the attrition rate is too high, and our offices are empty,” Villig wrote. “I think it’s a disgrace to our culture that less than 50% of employees come into the office +2 days a week.”

He cited tech industry giants like Amazon, Tesla and Apple, which have implemented various forms of return-to-office mandates.

Amazon recently announced corporate employees will have to work in the office 5 days a week starting in January. Tesla CEO Elon Musk called remote work “morally wrong.” Apple hybrid pilot program requires employees to work from the office three days a week.

Bolt’s CEO also criticized the idea of ​​people working remotely from vacation spots.

“We will stop the madness of people working remotely from places like Bali,” he said. “This is a vacation, not what we hired them for.”

A Bolt spokesperson confirmed that the memo was sent to employees.

“We believe that face-to-face collaboration drives innovation and productivity, and our existing policy advises employees to work from the Bolt office 2-3 days per week,” a Bolt spokesperson said. “Starting January 1, this policy will be formalized: employees will be asked to work in the Bolt office 12 days a month. We continue to listen to our colleagues and remain committed to developing a culture that values ​​collaboration and innovation, while empowering people to work flexibly and effectively.”

In his note, Villig said the company saw five benefits of in-person work: raising the productivity bar, improving collaboration, improving relationships between team members and other teams in the company, improving information flow and idea generation, and improving mental well-being. .

Bolt is based in Tallinn, Estonia and operates in more than 45 countries. In 2022, Bolt said it raised €628 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management, with the investment valued at €7.4 billion.

Company reportedly eyeing an IPO in 2025.

Read Bolt’s CEO’s full memo to employees:

Following Tuesday’s all-hands meeting, I will provide my views on the new return to office and location policy and your role as a manager in supporting this transition.

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The summary is this: I strongly believe that we are better off working in person rather than remotely.

The longer version is that we as a company have a choice to make. Either we reset our ambitious culture to compete in the big leagues, or we fall into mediocrity. Even the biggest companies, from Amazon to Tesla to Apple, understand that in order to stay on top, they need to maintain an intense culture and bring people into the office 3-5 days a week. We’re a tiny company compared to them, and to ever reach that scale, we’ll have to work harder and innovate more than them.

Over the past few years, we have seen too much complacency in how we recruit, where people live, and when and where they work. We are too spread out, people feel disconnected, the attrition rate is too high, and our offices are empty. I think it’s a disgrace to our culture that less than 50% of employees come into the office +2 days a week.

From January 1st we will return to a highly efficient organization:

Mandatory presence in the office 12 days a month for all employees.

Min 2 days a week. Team leaders have the power to do more—many sales teams already do 5.

We’ve already invested millions in creating stunning offices, but in locations where space is at a premium, we set specific days for each team so they can be spread out well.

Compared to leading technology companies, we think this is generous and gives employees more flexibility.

We will stop the madness of people working remotely from places like Bali. This is a vacation, not what we hired them for.

Reducing the number of sites to 2 for global roles.

By default, each department will have 2 hubs – the first in Tallinn and by default a secondary one in London.

Some larger departments, such as technology, save more. If you have questions, ask your department head.

For people to get the most out of their time in the office, their team needs to be there. Some departments have disparate teams and we are consolidating that.

To be clear, this refers to global roles, not local or regional ones.

There are 5 advantages of personal work:

Raise the productivity bar. We see a strong correlation between office attendance, productivity and engagement.

Improve collaboration. Face-to-face meetings are more effective than video calls.

Improve relationships within and between teams. Face-to-face interactions with people are better for resolving conflicts and building positive relationships. Video calls are transactional, and coffee or lunch together is much better for building relationships.

Improved information flow and idea generation. Informal conversations in the office cannot be replicated remotely.

Improve your mental state. Positive personal communication is a huge benefit when dealing with stress.

As managers, I ask you to help me with this:

Sell ​​this message to your teams.

Set an example for them by being in the office more often starting next week.

Create an environment where your teams want to come to the office. Personal work, not routine work, should be exciting and fun.

Monitor and manage poor attendance. We’re absolutely fine if some people decide it’s not for them, as the cultural impact far outweighs that.

Bolt’s culture is unique and we need to work every day to maintain it. I can’t do this alone – we all have to take responsibility for making this a fantastic place to work, where people come to do the best work of their lives.

@nick.walker and his team are preparing FAQs and other details that will be shared with you on Monday, and we’ll be planning internal communications after that. Go badgers!