Computer says no: Is the Zoom boom really over?

Zoom was a brilliant, easily accessible solution during the Covid crisis, writes Chris Blackhurst, and has become such a fixture it will be hard for employers to enforce the five-day office week again. Hybrid working is here to stay

Zoom has become such a fixture in our lives, it is unlikely we will see a return to the office for the whole five-day working week (Getty Images)

Occasionally, a news story breaks that requires a double take. One such is Zoom ordering its workers to get back to the office.

Come again? Zoom – the one name synonymous with the pandemic and the way the outbreak seemingly changed lifestyles and work-life balances forever; the brand that made working from home (WFH) possible. That one?

Yes, but hang on, it’s not going the full monty. What the California-based software firm is saying is that employees who live within 50 miles of one of its 14 locations worldwide must go there at least two days a week.