Zoom reverses policy not to hold staff meetings on Wednesdays

The company said it was a ‘barrier to collaboration'

Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan. Photo: Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Matthew Boyle and Brady Ford

Zoom has nixed its policy forbidding internal meetings on Wednesdays, saying it hindered collaboration, a move that goes against the grain — and its own employees’ preferences — as more companies look to reduce unnecessary gatherings.

Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan disclosed the shift last week in a memo to employees, which also included a new policy on office attendance, requiring those living within 50 miles of a corporate location to come in twice a week. It reverses a policy Zoom implemented in the early stages of the pandemic after surveying employees, who said they wanted to spend less time in meetings to have “more time to think, plan, focus, and execute.” In March 2022, the company said that 84pc of employees preferred to continue the policy.