Spiegel’s comments echo other remarks from corporate leaders trying to get workers commuting again. But in his memo, Spiegel wrote that he worries the extended period of working from home has meant “we’ve forgotten what we’ve lost-and what we could gain-by spending more time together.”

Snap was an early adherent of a remote-first policy as COVID began to spread in the U.S. We believe that being together in person, while retaining flexibility for our team members, will enhance our ability to deliver on our strategic priorities,” a Snap spokesperson told Fortune. “After working remotely for so long we’re excited to get everyone back together next year with our new 80/20 hybrid model. Spiegel said the new return-to-office policy would help Snap achieve its “full potential” and argued that what workers might give up “in terms of our individual convenience” would be offset by “our collective success.” The policy, which CEO Evan Spiegel called “default together,” would apply to all of Snap’s 30 offices around the world. Snap this month reported its slowest quarterly sales growth ever, saying a decline in advertising spending continues to drag on results.Starting in February, Snap employees will be expected to spend at least 80% of their time in the office, coming out to four days a week for most employees, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. The debate underscores a broader discussion underway about the future of computing as growth in the smartphone era wanes. Spiegel and his lieutenants have argued that perspective previously, which diverges in part from the more all-encompassing vision of the metaverse espoused by Meta Platforms Inc. marketing chief Greg Joswiak echoed the sentiment, saying the metaverse is “a word I’ll never use.” Apple is working on its own combined AR and VR headset, Bloomberg News has reported. “There is a clear fork in the road between VR and AR.” “The metaverse is ‘living inside of a computer.’ The last thing I want to do when I get home from work during a long day is live inside of a computer,” Spiegel told the WSJ Live conference in Laguna Beach, California.

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