Dating App Grindr Loses Half Of Its 178 Employees After Trying To Force 'Return To Office' Mandate

Grindr, a dating app for LGBTQ individuals, made employees return to the office and stop remote work. About half of the staff quit.?In August, Grindr said everyone had to return to the office. Workers had two weeks to decide if they'd move to their team's new "hub" city and work in person twice a week or leave the company with severance, as the Communications Workers of America (CWA) reported.

As of August 31, about 80 out of Grindr's 178 employees had to depart, according to the CWA. Many of these employees were initially hired to work remotely.?

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Still, they were compelled to move to designated "hub" cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

The CWA also claimed that the decision to make employees return to the office was retaliatory and a response to a unionization effort within the company. Just two weeks before Grindr's policy shift, most employees had filed to establish a union.

"Rather than recognize the union, the company issued a new return-to-office policy requiring staff to relocate or quit,"?the CWA said.

The union has lodged an unfair labor practice charge against Grindr with the National Labor Relations Board.

A spokesperson for Grindr responded, stating that the union's recent allegations are without merit.?"We are looking forward to returning to the office in a hybrid model in October and further improving productivity and collaboration for our entire team,"?the spokesperson said.

The dispute shows the ongoing tension between employers and workers regarding returning to the office, even more than three years after the COVID-19 pandemic led many white-collar employees to work from home.

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In an August survey by the Conference Board, 73% of 185 US HR executives reported difficulties convincing employees to return to the workplace.

Enforcing on-site work requirements could make it harder to keep employees.?

The survey revealed that 71% of employers with mandatory on-site work policies had trouble retaining workers.

Some prominent employers are getting stricter with their return-to-office mandates after Labor Day. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy informed employees they could express disagreement with the company's three-day office requirement, but non-compliance might affect their future at Amazon.?

Previously, the company had contacted some employees about their infrequent office attendance based on badge swipes.

Meta (formerly Facebook) instructed employees already assigned to an office to come in three days a week by September 5. Managers will monitor attendance, and noncompliance could lead to disciplinary measures like lower performance ratings or even dismissal.

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