Naver’s Metaverse Subsidiary Returns to Office, Heralding Shift From Remote Work

SEOUL, Apr. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – A subsidiary of the South Korean tech giant Naver that operates the metaverse platform Zepeto, known as Naver Z, has announced that it will be ending remote work and instituting a four-day in-office work week starting on April 15. 

The metaverse, a 3D virtual world, initially gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic as companies explored ways to facilitate remote collaboration and work.

Ironically, one of the companies developing these virtual work platforms is now requiring its employees to return to the physical office. 

“As in-person work becomes more normalized, we need to develop the metaverse accordingly,” said a Naver Z official. “By working directly from the office, we can identify areas that need improvement.”

Naver had been one of the last major tech companies in South Korea to maintain a remote work policy, reevaluating the situation annually each July. Naver Z’s shift represents a subsidiary breaking from this approach ahead of the wider company’s decision. 

This trend of returning to office-centric policies is not limited to South Korea. Major U.S. tech firms have also been calling employees back to their corporate campuses.

However, Naver has stated that Naver Z’s decision was independent and does not reflect a change in policy for the parent company.

Most major South Korean tech firms had already transitioned back to primarily in-office work by last year. Kakao instituted its “Kakao ON” policy, emphasizing office-first work, in March 2022. The newly appointed CEO Chung Shin-a has reinforced this stance.

Food delivery unicorn Woowa Brothers, after allowing full remote work in January 2022, now mandates at least one office day per week, with plans to increase that to two days in the second half of 2023.

The return to office-centric norms is equally evident in the U.S. Meta, parent company of Facebook, reinstated a requirement last September for most employees to work from the office three or more days per week after a period of remote work during the pandemic.

Similarly, IBM, Ubisoft, Roblox and others have adopted comparable policies. 

“Now it’s not just three days a week, there are a lot of places asking for four days in the office,” said one Silicon Valley engineer. 

Amazon has gone so far as to warn employees resisting its new three-day office minimum that their career advancement and performance reviews could be impacted negatively.

To accommodate the influx of returning workers, tech giants are resuming office expansion projects paused during the pandemic remote work pivot.

Amazon is restarting construction on a 42-story office tower near Seattle, which stalled when demand for office space plummeted. The company says the tower will be able to house over 4,500 employees upon completion later this year. 

Amazon also paused construction on five other Bellevue buildings as well as new offices in Virginia and Nashville during COVID. Microsoft, headquartered in the Seattle area, has similarly restarted its campus expansion work after a temporary pandemic hiatus. 

The core driver behind the office resurgence is concern over the impediment remote work poses to collaboration and spontaneous exchange of ideas.

One gaming executive noted that active in-person discussion is critical for game development, an inherently collaborative process, in a way video calls cannot replicate. 

Beyond task-oriented collaboration, leaders worry about the loss of casual workplace interactions and the subsequent creative sparks they can catalyze.

As one software executive put it, “There’s a lot of knowledge sharing that happens organically when employees eat together and chat—that’s lost with remote work. Ironically, we’re finding many of our youngest employees prefer being in the office.”

Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)