A tech startup is ending hybrid work — and the CEO says employees who don't like it should leave

The chief executive officer of British smartphone startup Nothing is ending the company’s hybrid work arrangement — and he’s encouraging employees that aren’t happy with the decision to find a new job.

Carl Pei, who founded the London-based consumer electronics firm in October 2020, told staff in an email shared on X that the company will transition into a fully in-office setup starting in October.

Although he acknowledged that the decision was “controversial,” Pei said that Nothing would not be able to reach its full potential as a company under a remote or hybrid arrangement.

“Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed,” Pei said. Pei has long positioned Nothing’s phones as a challenger to Apple’s iPhone, and in his email reiterated his desire to make Nothing a “generation-defining company.”

When it comes to the company’s employees, Pei said the new arrangement would be “no different from pre-COVID.” But he also left the door open for employees who wish to have more flexibility to exit the company.

“We know it’s not the right type of setup for everybody, and that’s OK,” he said. “We should look for a mutual fit. You should find an environment where you thrive, and we need to find people who want to go the full mile with us in the decades ahead.”

The tech world has struggled to adapt to the world of hybrid work, with executives expressing concerned about the productivity losses from remote setups and calling employees back to the office full-time. Google’s GOOGL-0.96% former CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt said in a talk at Stanford University in July that Google fell behind on AI because of remote work. He later walked back the comments, saying he “misspoke.”

Dell, Amazon AMZN-1.42%, X, and other tech giants have also taken harsh — and sometimes seemingly threatening – stances on remote work

Studies have shown mixed results when it comes to the true productivity impact from remote work. While some research has shown that working from home boosts productivity as much as 24%, others have demonstrated the opposite.