Dell is ordering hundreds of workers back to the office full time

Dell is ramping up its return-to-office policy as it battles with rising costs and worker productivity, ordering its global sales teams to work onsite five days per week unless otherwise engaged with customers or partners.

The shift marks a considerable change over Dell’s previous policy, and the wider industry norm, of three office days per week.

The policy’s effects are likely to be widespread, as Dell has around 120,000 workers, even after mass layoffs affecting around 13,000 workers earlier in 2024, and potentially even more unconfirmed redundancies.

Dell’s RTO policy jumps up to five days

The full extent of the workforce affected remains unclear; Dell has declined to specify how many employees are subject to the new mandate.

“The announcement was to our sales team stating that we expect them to come into the office or be together with customer and partners five days a week,” a company spokesperson stated.

“We continually evolve our business so we’re set up to deliver the best innovation, value and service to our customers and partners. That includes more in-person connection to drive market leadership.”

A staff memo (via The Register) shared by Bill Scannell, president of global sales and customer operations, and John Byrne, president of sales for global regions with Dell Tech Select, confirmed. “Starting Monday, Sept 30th, the expectation is that ALL global sales team members who can work from a Dell office be onsite five days a week, regardless of role.”

The two execs reportedly cited internal data proving that sales teams thrive in a collaborative environment.

As is the case with other companies pushing for more office-based working, pushback from Dell’s workers is to be expected. The company had previously said in March 2024 that remote workers would not be put up for promotion opportunities, causing widespread backlash.

TechRadar Pro asked Dell to share more context about its revised RTO policy, including details of the types and quantity of workers that will be required to work from the office five days per week. Any update will be shared here.