Nothing Phone Company Mandates Full Return To The Office

Nothing, the phone company founded by OnePlus founder Carl Pei, has announced that all employees must return to the office five days a week.

Nothing is working to set itself apart in the crowded Android phone landscape, trying to become “a generation-defining company.” Nothing is taking cues from Apple and Samsung and focusing on polished designs and delivering a cohesive experience.

According to Pei’s LinkedIn post, remote and hybrid work is not compatible with those goals.

First of all, we make physical products where design, engineering, manufacturing and quality have to collaborate closely together to deliver products to our users. This does not work well remotely.

Second, creativity and innovation are really key to us winning against bigger companies. Not only in products, we also need to solve difficult problems and do more with way less resources than competitors in all areas of our business. This does not work well remotely.

Lastly, our ambition level is different from many peer companies started at the same time. We are not looking to create a good business that gets acquired by a big company, we are looking to realize our full potential of becoming a generation-defining company. And we’re really serious about moving fast. Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed.

Pei said the change wouldn’t affect normal flexibility that users enjoy.

Some may be worried about flexibility, but this is no different from pre-COVID. This is a company for grown ups, so if you need to be out of office to deal with some issues, we trust you to make the right decision. In fact, some roles like sales and PR need to be out of the office meeting with customers and press regularly.

Pei acknowledged that the decision was controversial, and that it meant Nothing would no longer be a good fit for everyone, but emphasized that employees and the company would need to find options that were a better fit.

We know it’s not the right type of setup for everybody, and that’s OK. We should look for a mutual fit. You should find an environment where you thrive, and we need to find people who want to go the full mile with us in the decades ahead.

This takes effect two months from now. In our next Town Hall in London, we can take live questions if there are any.

The vast majority of companies have come to accept hybrid work as the new normal, with most CEOs coming to terms with the new reality.

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