Zoom's new London hub – where 'remote work' meets 'we need you back in the office'

Summary

Zoom, a major player in the work-from-home revolution, is opening a new London hub that caters to hybrid, office, and remote workers. The 15,000 sq ft site in Holborn includes "zones" with "work points" ranging from library-style benches, touchdown spaces, agile tables for collaboration to traditional desks. Staff need to book them via a workspace reservation tool. The Hub comes with "creative furniture", community areas, formal gathering spaces, and quiet corners with Zoom Rooms tech and digital signage. It also includes a Zoom Virtual Kiosk that allows in-office roles such as receptionists to manage the office when remote. Zoom's move is seen as an attempt to put a fresh spin on the idea of remote work, as many companies are requiring their staff to come into the office two days a week. Zoom's UK boss said the hub has been "totally reimagined" for the modern, digitally connected age.

Q&As

AI Comments

👍 Zoom's new London hub is an innovative way to bring remote workers and office workers together in one space, providing a great collaborative workspace.

👎 Zoom's new London hub is an expensive move, and it remains to be seen if the technology alone will be enough to help dispersed teams stay connected and productive.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about Zoom opening a new London hub that combines "remote work" with "we need you back in the office". It's trying to create a space that caters to the needs of hybrid, office, and remote workers.

Friend: That's interesting. What are the implications of this?

Me: Well, it shows that the idea of remote work is still alive and well, despite employers reporting a shift back to the physical workplace in the past year. However, Zoom's new hub also suggests that employers are still looking for ways to maximize collaboration and productivity, even if that means a hybrid of remote and in-person work. As Zoom's UK boss said, they've "totally reimagined" their office for the modern, digitally connected age, so it will be interesting to see how employees respond.

Action items

• Research other companies that are transitioning to hybrid work models and how they are managing the transition.
• Develop a plan for how to implement a hybrid work model in your own organization.
• Create a survey to assess employee sentiment about returning to the office and the hybrid work model.

Technical terms

On-Prem

Short for "on-premises," on-prem is a term used to describe software, hardware, or services that are located and managed on the customer's own premises.

UTC

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Hybrid

A hybrid system is a combination of two or more distinct types of systems, aimed at achieving improved performance or better usability.

Agile

Agile is a set of principles and practices for software development that emphasize collaboration, flexibility, and continuous improvement.

Kiosk

A kiosk is a small, self-contained computer terminal that is used to provide information or services to customers.

Virtual

Virtual refers to something that exists in the form of a computer simulation or other digital representation.

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