Asos wants employees to attend more in-person meetings

Fashion retailer Asos has told employees they could face disciplinary action if they fail to follow its flexible working policy, which for some departments stipulates that staff should attend the office at least three days a week.

Asos’s communications with staff have emphasised the importance of attending in-person meetings, and told them there was a “very real need” for people in the business to see, touch and feel the clothes it sells, which was “impossible virtually”.

The company said that virtual meetings had a “detrimental” effect on the company’s performance.

Certain teams at Asos are required to work in the office at least three days a week with creative, marketing and production teams being asked to conduct most meetings in person. Virtual attendance at some meetings put a “strain” on the wider team, said the retailer.

Brainstorming, pre-production and commercial meetings all need to take place in-person, the firm has told employees.

Asos, which owns the Topshop and Topman labels, has been under pressure to get the business and its employees firing on all cylinders again after a stark turnaround in its fortunes in recent years.

The retailer, in which Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has a stake, is among the many firms that saw a sales surge during the pandemic because of the shift to online shopping. Since then, however, it has experienced a slowdown in demand as shoppers return to the high street and competition with other fast fashion companies grows.

José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, chief executive of Asos, has taken several actions to drive profitability, including reducing stock levels, having stricter criteria on returns and more disciplined marketing.

While Asos has joined myriad employers who are encouraging workers to return to the office, some organisations have warned the move is counterproductive. Recent studies have confirmed that hybrid working is at least as productive as in-office working.

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