Like many other companies, Roblox will shift to a model where employees are expected to work three days in the office (Tuesday through Thursday). Employees will have until January 16, 2024 to decide if they want to stay with the company under the new rules. If an employee chooses to stay at Roblox and relocate, the company will assist with relocation costs and expects them to report to the company’s offices in San Mateo, California, by July 15, 2024.
Employees who “cannot relocate” can remain with the company until April 15, 2024. Roblox will offer a severance package for those who decide to leave.
Roblox went fully remote in March 2020, but, according to Baszucki, the company had “numerous deep discussions” about its future and ultimately decided that “we needed to get back to working in person.” While he “hoped” that “it would be possible to imagine a strongly hybrid remote culture,” he had a “pivotal moment” during the company’s first “post-quarantine in-person group meeting,” he says. “In 45 minutes I came away from three separate conversations with spontaneous things to do and ideas to put into action, something that hadn’t happened during the last few years of video meetings.”
Baszucki also says that virtual work environments are simply not as good as in-person ones: “While I am confident that we will reach a point where virtual work spaces are as engaging, collaborative, and productive as physical spaces, we are not “. Still there.” It seems like the company has work to do to reach its own goal of having Roblox employees “spend more time using Roblox for remote meetings than with video” within the next five years.
Not all remote employees will have to return to the office. People with jobs that “must be remote,” such as data center and call center staff, can remain remote, as can “people who have specific skill sets or significant institutional knowledge (e.g., skills multidisciplinary, deep experience with Roblox). systems, etc.),” says Baszucki.
