Bolt CEO calls remote work 'insanity,' says more in-office days needed
Estonian mobility platform Bolt is calling its staff across the globe back to the office, with CEO Markus Villig reportedly having hit out at the "insanity of people working from Bali," business magazine Fortune reports.
In an internal email obtained by British newspaper The Telegraph, Villig called staff working from locations such as the Indonesian island of Bali "disconnected," adding that the company had been too "complacent" in hiring.
This came particularly in relation to living and working arrangements, and Villig called the fact that less than half of staff were in-office at least two days per week a "disgrace."
"We will stop the insanity of people working remotely from places like Bali. That is a vacation, not what we hired them to do," he reportedly wrote.
A Bolt spokesperson told Fortune.com that the company will formalize a hybrid work policy starting January 1, which will require employees to work from the office 12 days in a month.
Grete Kivi, Bolt's global employer branding manager, has also publicly shared a LinkedIn post addressing the reports.
She called the situation "not that dramatic," and stressed that while job seeking is a two-way process, it needs to suit all parties: "Working at Bolt is not for everyone."
"We're fast-paced, and you're expected to perform to the highest standard. Bolt has never been a remote-first company, and we've been clear about that from the start. Everyone who joins us knows this – it's not a sudden change in policy," Kivi added.
The post also sought to assuage fears of the developments being "shadow layoffs."
Bolt is not alone in addressing the issue of mass remote work or hybrid work, which really got going during the Covid pandemic – multinational e-commerce titan Amazon, among others, has also done so.
However, some say that forcing the issue too hard could lead to resistance or even rebellion, which may harm productivity and the bottom line if widespread enough.
Bolt was founded in 2013 as Taxify, concentrating first on ride-hailing app services, which it still provides, and since then has grown to include short-term car rentals, ride-sharing, food-couriering and e-scooter rentals.
It reports more than 150 million customers worldwide and more than 3 million driver and courier partners.
It has plans in place for an IPO next year, though reported 2023 losses of €91.9 million off revenues of €1.7 billion.
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