Patreon slashed its workforce by 20% last week — and wants its remaining staffers to come into the office more.
The company informed workers that it is increasing its return-to-office (RTO) requirement from two to three days a week for staff who commute to Patreon’s three offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Porto, Portugal, a company spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.
Staffers at the company, which runs a platform where creators can sell memberships and offer subscriber-only perks to fans, learned of the change a day after a layoff round that affected 93 employees. The updated RTO policy will go into effect in the “coming months,” the spokesperson said, and it will not affect workers already classified as remote employees.
“Since returning to two days a week in-office, we’ve been able to build stronger connections across the team,” the Patreon spokesperson said. “We’re making this change to spend more intentional in-person time together to continue strengthening the feeling of community and togetherness we have at Patreon.”
RTO has become a priority at many tech and media companies as executives look to revamp in-office culture following a multi-year pandemic hiatus. For example, Instagram asked its workers to begin coming into the office five days a week in February. TikTok, which last year required five days of in-office attendance for select teams like e-commerce, is also looking to bring more workers back in person this year.
Patreon’s implementation of RTO, which it refers to internally as “Time Together,” had been relatively lenient, one former staffer said.
Patreon requires employees to be present on 75% of in-office days, meaning they could skip out once every four days.
Some employees have also been classified as remote employees even if they live within commuting distance, and are exempt from RTO.
Patreon’s in-office push comes at a moment when it’s flattening its organization to refocus teams on its top priorities, and evolve key aspects of its operations to make the company “faster at adapting to change,” CEO Jack Conte said in a memo last week.
“AI has fundamentally transformed the tech industry, the pace of change has never been more intense, and I expect it to get even faster,” Conte wrote, noting that Patreon would need “increased agility” to compete.
Patreon’s desire to move faster comes as competition heats up in its core creator-subscription business. Newsletter platforms like Substack and Beehiiv are signing up writers and podcasters in droves, while large social apps like TikTok and YouTube are rolling out paid, exclusive membership programs for creators.
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