In a blog post, Roblox Founder and CEO David Baszucki detailed plans moving forward for Roblox employees, and he gives two choices: leave or return to the office three days a week.
On Tuesday, October 18, 2023, Roblox issued a notice to all employees on their blog that they must return to the office on a hybrid three-days-a-week basis by January 2024. This includes staff that aren’t located around their headquarters based in San Mateo, California. As the post mentions, even those who live outside of the state will also have a choice to either relocate or resign. Roblox has also offered to foot the bill on relocation for employees who choose to move.
Roblox has joined the ranks of Google and Tesla with this return-to-office policy. CEO Baszucki says, “We did not make this decision lightly, as we understand that the decision to move is significant, both for our employees and for their families and loved ones.” Roblox will give employees who work remotely until January 16, 2024, to make the decision to start working at the headquarters in San Mateo.
What’s interesting is the return to office policy won’t affect everyone, as the post mentions some employees will not need to follow the mandate. CEO Baszucki writes, “There will be some remote employees who are not asked to return, specifically 1) teams and roles that are required to be remote (e.g., data centers, moderators, call centers, etc.), and 2) individuals who have niche skill sets or significant institutional knowledge”.
This message is a deviation from the previous message released by Roblox Chief Marketing & People Experience Officer Barbara Messing in May 2022, where the company said they were willing to support their remote employees aside from “various times throughout the year” and “quarterly get-togethers”. The message in 2022 went on to state, “Therefore we are encouraging employees to come back, and for those who choose to work remotely, we are ensuring that they can be remote successfully.”
While it seems Roblox has made a complete 180 regarding their remote work policies, fans can read the entire blog post from the official website.
