Pei founded Nothing during the pandemic, and all his employees worked remotely.
The CEO argues that they must work in the same office to stay competitive.
Nothing is a relatively new company that, thanks to the experience of CEO Carl Pei (co-founder of OnePlus), has quickly managed to carve out a niche in the market for itself, competing with giants such as Samsung, Xiaomi, and Apple. However, according to Pei, in order to remain competitive at this level, employees must return to the office.
Nothing’s radical turnaround. In a post on X, the Nothing CEO shared the email he sent to all employees announcing that a new back-to-office policy would go into effect within two months.
Pei’s decision is a radical about-face from Nothing’s previous approach to remote work, which had been a core part of the company’s culture since its founding in 2020 during the pandemic. Now, though, the CEO argues that remote work isn’t compatible with the ambitions for rapid growth and high productivity that Nothing seeks to stay competitive in the future. “Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed. We are at 0.1% of our potential,” he said.
Reasons for returning to office. Pei’s statement included the familiar talking points echoed by other tech companies. The Nothing CEO said there were three fundamental reasons for returning to the London headquarters.
First, he pointed out that developing a smartphone requires close cooperation between the design, engineering, and production departments. Pei argued that this type of work wasn’t compatible with a remote environment. This is one of the arguments most often used by large technology companies.
In addition, Nothing’s CEO claimed creativity and innovation work best in person, allowing the company to do more with fewer resources. Finally, Pei stressed that Nothing’s lofty ambitions to become a “generation-defining company” couldn’t be achieved under a remote work model. Such an undefined motive points to managerial biases driving the company rather than objective data.
If you don’t want to come into the office, the door's right there. The new in-office policy will take effect progressively over the next two months. During that time, the company will meet with employees in London to answer questions.
Pei was also clear about the employees who disagreed with the new policy, suggesting that those unwilling to go into the office five days a week could find another job. “I know this is a controversial decision that may not be a fit for everyone, and there are definitely companies out there that thrive in remote or hybrid setups. But that’s not right for our type of business and won’t help us fully realize our potential as a company.”
Employees at the company's London headquarters were the last to return to the office. Pei founded Nothing during the pandemic and adopted a remote work policy for the entire workforce. The company later implemented a hybrid model for its London headquarters. At the same time, other Nothing offices have gradually returned to a 100% in-person model.
Despite the policy change, Pei assured that there would be no contractual conflicts with employees, as their signed contracts state that their primary place of work is Nothing’s London office.
Room for flexibility. Despite the strict statement, Nothing’s CEO noted that there will be some flexibility within the new policy. “This is a company for grown-ups, so if you need to be out of the 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. 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,” he said.
He said Nothing will evaluate the need for flexibility on a case-by-case basis, especially for roles that require external interaction, particularly in sales and marketing.
This article was written by Rubén Andrés and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.
Image | Flickr (TechCrunch)
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