Roblox Tells Staff To Get Back To The Office At Least 3 Days A Week Or Take A Severance And Leave

Hot on the heels of layoffs at Roblox, and some financial reports that show large losses, the creative game is now mandating that all of its employees return to office work for 3 out of 5 days per week. Employees that can't, or won't, make the move, including those that would need to relocate to do so, will be asked to leave the company.

In a post from the company's CEO David Baszucki, employees are being asked to make their decisions by January 16th, 2024. Those that decide to relocate to the game's San Mateo, CA headquarters will be given some assistance by the company to do so. 

Employees who decide moving isn't the best option for them will continue to work under their current salaries until April 15th, 2024, at which time they will be given severance packages commensurate with their tenure and six months of healthcare coverage.

According to Baszucki, "Within 45 minutes (of the company's 1st in-person meeting after quarantine) I came away from three separate conversations with spontaneous to do’s and ideas to put in motion, something that hadn’t happened during the past few years of video meetings."

Baszucki also attributes the "extremely difficult decision" to the need for collaboration between staff, training and coaching of junior staff by senior staff, and three-hour in-person meetings being far less exhausting than remote meetings resulting in "Zoom fatigue."

While Roblox seems to be more generous than other companies we've seen take the same route, it's hard not to view the change through a negative lens given that companies all across the U.S. are receiving tax break incentives to get their employees back into offices. While we aren't privy to the tax offerings made (or not made) to Roblox specifically, many companies removing remote work options post-pandemic are not doing so SOLELY for the "collaborative" reasons they may give publically. 

More locally, cities are even incentivizing businesses to move "back in" to fill empty real estate in metropolitan areas. My own city of Pittsburgh is doing just that.

Roblox's direction does have 2 exceptions: 1) roles that are required to be remote, like call centers, and 2) "individuals who have niche skill sets or significant institutional knowledge", meaning that the company can find a way to keep the staff they deem critical that may decide not to relocate.