Several of the world’s biggest tech companies are decommissioning facilities that are part of European bases and headquarters in response to a collapsing economy.
In addition to the “big three” of Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, the parent company of Google Alphabet and Salesforce, CRM and collaboration software Loose reported that they wanted to move out of rented office space in London and Dublin.
Claims filed by Financial Times (opens in a new tab) and confirmed by insiders, are part of a series of cost cuts during the recession that has forced many companies to consider streamlining technique, software, staff and cyber security stacks to save money.
Hybrid work in a recession
These mass exoduses are largely due to the acceptance of the tech industry hybrid work policies, but there are still obstacles.
As reported by FTSnapchat, the owner of Snapchat, is considering reopening and expanding its San Francisco office after it closed in October 2022, and has told employees to return to the office four days a week.
Social media giant Twitter, led by Elon Musk, pressured employees to return to the officeand a foul by local zoning officials collapsed after taking the step assembly of beds in a commercial building (opens in a new tab) in pursuit of a widely criticized “hardcore” work culture.
TikTok owner Bytedance also requires employees to commute two to three days a week, and according to three people with access to the information, it is close to a deal to become the sole tenant of Verdant, a new building in London near Farringdon headquarters.
Google is set to vacate at least one of its London offices, in Victoria, when its lease ends next year, though it still expects to expand into Europe. The FT announced that the company intends to move most of its staff from the UK to a new office in King’s Cross, which is expected to cost £1 billion.
However, in a strange move, reportedly 1 in 10 Google employees have opted for it work at home on a permanent basis, the company is considering subletting most of its remaining rental properties in the English capital, according to sources within the company. Google declined to comment officially.
Meta signed a lease for a 310,000-square-foot office in Fitzrovia, central London, last year, but is reportedly now also trying to sublease the building without moving in first, after embarking on a similar U.S. move for its Fremont, California headquarters.
It will also sublease a building in Austin, Texas, and terminated the leases for two of its three offices in Manhattan, New York.
Salesforce has plunged into similar tactics, with the FT saying it has publicly confirmed plans to sublease part of a floor in its London office.
As a result of these changes, no one wins: either tech workers are coaxed back into the physical office by their employers (even though there is no link between remote work and productivity loss with the right tools), or business owners risk being owned by the same corporations.