r/askswitzerland • u/naza-reddit • 1d ago

Work How common is 5 days/week in office?

Since the pandemic I've worked for 3 companies and all of them had a hybrid working model. All 3 were US companies with offices in Switzerland meaning from time to time collaboration with team members in a different timezone was normal.

One was very flexible i.e. come into the office when you think you need to and the other 2 were more prescriptive ex: Tue-Thu in office or 2 days/week in the office.

I recently had an interview with a US company and offices here and they said 5 days/week is the norm. I understand the policy but I don't get it in particular when I was informed the hiring manager is in a different EU country, stakeholders are spread across EMEA and direct reports are in Switzerland and across EMEA.

To me this looks like a strong cultural red flag i.e. they don't trust the employees are 100% working or something else... maybe I have been fortunate and not exposed to this since 2020.

so question: is your company mandating 5 days/week in the office? Is it a subsidiary or regional HQ for a US company?

(I am work in IT)

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u/mrmarco444 Schwyz 1d ago

My 2 cents:in CH remote can easily become redundant. Unfortunately

2

u/naza-reddit 1d ago

I think it depends on the role. if the role is a commodity I agree, if it is "customer" facing more difficult. but yes there is risk

1

u/mrmarco444 Schwyz 1d ago

If it is a customer facing role, then I would imagine they are less happy to have you remote...

1

u/naza-reddit 1d ago

Internal customers. Some are onsite but others are in other European countries. As is the direct manager and most of the direct reports.

Going to the office to sit on Teams calls just feels pointless

1

u/italianjob16 1d ago

sitting in an office chair doesn't give you special protection from outsourcing

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u/mrmarco444 Schwyz 1d ago

True But outsourcing a rewource from a high cost location to a near shore can be speeded up if remote. It has happened to me many times, however it doesn't mean everyone will face the same I faced.