LGBTQ dating app Grindr has ended its US work-from-home policy, forcing employees back into the office. Because many people were hired remotely, almost half of the staff had to resign.
At the beginning of August, Grindr announced that it would require its staff to return to the office to work. The policy gave employees two weeks to choose between moving to the city where their new office is located (to work in person twice a week) or leaving the company with severance, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA ).
About 80 of Grindr’s 178 employees had to leave the company by August 31, the CWA said on Wednesday. Many of these employees were hired remotely and had to move to other cities to get to their new offices. The CWA also said the return policy was retaliatory and a response to an industrial action at the company. Just two weeks before Grindr’s policy change, a majority of employees filed to form a union.
“Rather than recognize the union, the company issued a new return-to-office policy that required employees to relocate or resign,” the CWA said in a statement. The union has filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against Grindr. A Grindr spokesperson says the union’s latest claims are “unsubstantiated.”
The dispute highlights tensions between employers and employees over returning to the office more than three years after the coronavirus pandemic forced millions of employees to work remotely.
According to a survey conducted by the American Conference Board in the US in August, 73% of organizations reported that it was difficult to bring employees back to the workplace.
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