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The mandate is hot on the heels of Amazon’s return to the office plan, but Dell wants its sales teams back even sooner.
Four years after the forced remote-working revolution, companies are starting to force staff back to the office.
In an email to staff, Dell executives said they expect all global sales team members who can work from the office to be onsite five days a week from next Monday (30 September).
The mandate was sent by Bill Scannell, president of global sales and customer operations, and John Byrne, president of sales in global regions at Dell Tech Select.
It said that the sales floor is a “unique environment” that combines high energy with collaboration and continuous improvement. “To harness this energy and grow skills, we believe our sales teams need to be together in the office.”
Field sellers who can’t go into the office were advised to prioritise time spent in person with customers, while remote sellers who can’t go into the office should continue to work remotely. However, it added that more information pertaining to remote workers will be sent in the coming weeks.
“We know situations will arise when you need to work remotely. This is expected, but working remotely should be the exception rather than the routine,” the email said.
“When we’re not traveling to meet with customers and partners, we are in the office. When you step onto the Sales floor with all team members onsite, the energy is amazing – it’s dynamic and fast-paced.”
SiliconRepublic.com has reached out to Dell for comment.
The mandate is hot on the heels of Amazon’s return to the office plan, but unlike Dell’s request that all staff return on 30 September, Amazon’s in-office expectations begin on 2 January 2025.
While tech giants initially led the way when it came to remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic, they have now started cracking down on these policies in recent years.
Speaking to SiliconRepublic.com, University of Limerick’s Dr Sarah Kiernan said forcing employees back into an office could result in decreased job satisfaction, lower levels of commitment, increased attrition rates, presenteeism and eventually, quiet quitting.
“Enforcing full onsite presence goes against today’s norms so I cannot envisage a climate where it would be well received no matter how well it is implemented. Employees are reasonable, they know when they need to be onsite to do their job,” she said.
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