Dell is calling much of its workforce back into the office five days a week starting on March 3. The technology giant is framing the mandate as a business strategy, but there’s reason to believe the policy may drive employee turnover.
Business Insider detailed an internal memo today from CEO and Chairman Michael Dell informing workers that if they live within an hour of a Dell office, they’ll have to go in five days a week.
“What we’re finding is that for all the technology in the world, nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction,” Dell wrote, per Business Insider. “A thirty-second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days.”
The publication said that those living further from an office can continue to work remotely. It’s possible that employees could try to move to avoid the mandate, but it’s unclear how that might work after it takes effect. Business Insider reported that Dell’s note asked workers to “hold” questions “for now” because the company is “still working through details, and additional information will be available soon.”
Adding further complication, Dell is said to have previously made fully remote workers ineligible for promotion. This has implications for the type of talent that will be able to rise within the company.
Deena Merlen, partner at Reavis Page Jump LLP, an employment, dispute resolution, and media law firm, explained:
“If only those who are willing and able to come into the office will get promoted, Dell will be left with a workforce where this qualification impacts the talent pool. Dell may be missing out on some great talent because of this added requirement.”
Marlen also noted the requirement for Dell’s policies to consider the needs of workers with disabilities necessitating remote work. Dell would face “exposure to liability to the extent remote workers who are otherwise qualified are passed over for promotion because their disability requires them to work remotely as a reasonable accommodation” if it failed to oblige with workplace anti-discrimination laws, she told Ars.
Similarly to Amazon, which issued a five-day return-to-office (RTO) mandate for corporate employees effective this month, Dell’s RTO mandate may face real estate obstacles, which it would address in February, according to Business Insider.
In a statement to Ars, Dell’s PR team said:
“We continually evolve our business so we’re set up to deliver the best innovation, value, and service to our customers and partners. That includes more in-person connections to drive market leadership.”
The road to full RTO
After Dell allowed employees to work from home two days per week, Dell’s sales team in March became the first department to order employees back into offices full-time. At the time, Dell said it had data showing that salespeople are more productive on site. Dell corporate strategy SVP Vivek Mohindra said last month that sales’ RTO brought “huge benefits” in “learning from each other, training, and mentorship.”
The company’s “manufacturing teams, engineers in the labs, onsite team members, and leaders” had also previously been called into offices full-time, Business Insider reported today.
Since February, Dell has been among the organizations pushing for more in-person work since pandemic restrictions lifted, with reported efforts including VPN and badge tracking.
Risking personnel
Like other organizations, Dell risks losing employees by implementing a divisive mandate. For Dell specifically, internal tracking data reportedly found that nearly half of workers already opted for remote work over being eligible for promotions or new roles, according to a September Business Insider report.
Research has suggested that companies that issue RTO mandates subsequently lose some of their best talent. A November research paper (PDF) from the University of Pittsburgh, Baylor University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business researchers that cited LinkedIn data found this particularly true for “high-tech” and financial firms. The researchers concluded that average turnover rates increased by 14 percent on average after companies issued RTO policies. This research, in addition to other studies, has also found that companies with in-office work mandates are at risk of losing senior-level employees especially.
Some analysts don’t believe Dell is in danger of a mass exodus, though. Bob O’Donnell, president and chief analyst at Technalysis Research, told Business Insider in December, “It’s not like I think Dell’s going to lose a whole bunch of people to HP or Lenovo.”
Patrick Moorhead, CEO and chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said he believes RTO would be particularly beneficial to Dell’s product development.
Still, some workers have accused Dell of using RTO policies to try to reduce headcount. There’s no proof of this, but broader research, including commentary from various company executives outside of Dell, has shown that some companies have used RTO policies to try to get people to quit.
Dell declined to comment about potential employee blowback to Ars Technica.