After launching the company remotely in 2020 during the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic, British electronics manufacturer Nothing now wants its 450 employees to return to the office.

Nothing CEO Carl Pei while calling for scrapping of the remote and hybrid working option, acknowledged that it was a “controversial decision” in an email sent to staff, and later posted on his LinkedIn page.

He added that while there are companies that thrive in remote or hybrid setups, the decision he reached for Nothing “may not be a fit for everyone.”

And for those who it did not suit, he seemed to suggest that they consider leaving Nothing. “We know it’s not the right type of setup for everybody, and that’s OK. We should look for a mutual fit.”

For those concerned that the latest arrangement would curb flexibility, he pointed to the situation being “no different from pre-COVID”, even though the company hadn’t launched at the time. “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,” said Pei.

Outlining the reasons for calling for an end to the existing work structure, he said that since the company makes physical products where design, engineering, manufacturing and quality need to collaborate, working remotely doesn’t help.

He also cited “creativity and innovation” and the “need to solve difficult problems and do more with way less resources than competitors”, and said that these factors do not work well remotely, without elaborating on it.

He even cited the company’s “ambition level” as being different from many peer companies started at the same time. He said the company was at 0.1 per cent of its potential. “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.”

While some have come out in support of his new policy in the comments section to his LinkedIn post, others are far less enthused. “I get the rationale, but why be so adamant and rigid about the policy? For example, a product designer working remote on Friday, but working on-site the other days, isn’t going to affect whether or not he was able to see the physical product that week. A hybrid option is more than adequate for Nothing’s ambitions. You have some companies in the UK that are piloting a 4-day work week, take a page from that,” wrote multimedia designer Shane Hirschman.

Here in Australia, in NSW, the premier’s department this month provided new guidance to government sector employees to work primarily from their office or workplace.

Businesses in Oz have backed those moves. Gerry Harvey, chair of Harvey Norman, reportedly said his company had never allowed people to work from home after Covid because of his belief that employees worked better as a team in the office.

“We never believed it was a good idea,” he said. “Some people were not happy, but we never lost anyone as a result of the policy.”