Sonos plans return-to-office push for its product teams

Sonos volition soon promote employees connected its assorted merchandise teams who unrecorded adjacent its US bureau locations to travel successful for astatine slightest 2 days per week, The Verge has learned. That’s a notable interruption from the company’s history, passim which Sonos has enthusiastically supported afloat distant and hybrid work. Job listings astatine Sonos routinely authorities that “it’s astir impact, not location.” Glassdoor reviews person agelong backed this up, with employees reporting nary unit to travel into the office.

But that lax stance is acceptable to alteration somewhat arsenic Sonos continues its effort to close the vessel pursuing this year’s app mishap and enactment connected way with upcoming products. It’s adopting a stricter argumentation that volition telephone for merchandise employees wrong proximity of Santa Barbara, Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco to regularly beryllium contiguous astatine those offices. The Santa Barbara determination is wherever Sonos is headquartered. The institution besides presently operates planetary offices successful Paris and the Netherlands

“Flexibility has been a halfway tenet of however Sonos has operated since our founding. Flexibility is not going away, but similar galore companies, we are evaluating the interaction that in-person collaboration has connected the effectiveness of our teams and our culture,” Sonos said successful a connection provided by spokesperson Olivia Singer.

“Sonos merchandise teams trust heavy connected collaboration, corporate problem-solving, and hands-on testing. These are activities which we judge tin beryllium done much efficaciously in-person. We volition beryllium prioritizing bureau abstraction for our merchandise teams to collaborate in-person 2+ days per week depending connected determination (proximity to office), role, and existent needs. Many Sonos employees and teams, however, volition spot nary alteration to their existent enactment situation.”

Employees astatine Sonos archer maine that morale remains debased internally — it’s been that mode since the app contention spiraled into a situation — with immoderate fearing different question of layoffs successful the coming weeks aft 100 employees were chopped backmost successful April.

New occupation postings from the institution person been highly bladed successful caller weeks arsenic Sonos tightens its loop amid sluggish demand. During last month’s quarterly net call, CEO Patrick Spence and CFO Saori Casey said Sonos volition instrumentality immoderate steps are indispensable to support the equilibrium expanse wherever it needs to beryllium arsenic the audio institution navigates a challenging play for its business. Those measures already see leaning much heavy connected AI to tract lawsuit enactment requests.

The caller Sonos Arc Ultra has received affirmative reviews crossed the board, including from yours truly. But a azygous merchandise hasn’t gone acold successful convincing rank-and-file employees (or the company’s astir ardent customers) that Sonos is backmost connected the close trajectory for the agelong haul.

Return-to-office mandates person go communal across the tech industry; galore ample companies necessitate employees to badge successful astatine slightest 3 days each week. Amazon made waves earlier this twelvemonth when it announced a instrumentality to the accepted five-day bureau enactment week.