Epic Systems to require nearly 10,000 employees to return to offices
Epic Systems will require its roughly 10,000 employees in Wisconsin to return to its campus in Verona on Sept. 21, becoming one of the first large employers to no longer give employees the option of working remotely.
“Over the past several months, our experience has been that results are much better and faster when staff are able to collaborate on new and creative ideas during in-person brainstorming sessions compared to over the phone or video conference,” the company said in a statement.
Employees will be required to wear masks and practice safe physician distancing, the company said. And employees with health conditions that put them at a higher risk of developing severe symptoms from COVID-19 will be able to participate in meetings virtually.
Roughly one-third of Epic’s employees have continued to work on the
campus — where most employees have their own office — since the pandemic hit.
The company has 28 buildings on its 1,048-acre campus. It is one of the two largest software companies for electronic health records and had revenue of $3.2 billion in 2019.
The return to work decision sets Epic apart from other software companies such as Alphabet, the parent company of Google, which recently announced that its employees would work remotely until next July. But employers also are discovering the drawbacks, such as challenges in communication and lower productivity, when employees work remotely.
Epic initially plans to begin bringing people back to its campus in phases, starting in late July, but subsequently reconsidered that plan, according to a former employee who asked not to be identified.
In an email to employees Monday, Judy Faulkner, Epic’s founder and CEO, defended the decision to require employees to return to its campus in late September.
“Staff who have returned to campus say there are many reasons why working at Epic is better,” Faulkner wrote. “For example, they say that when we are at work we are on the Epic network and connections to the software and each other are better. You can shut the office door and focus without distractions, which is not always possible if you live with others or in a noisy environment.”
But some Epic employees immediately criticized the decision, saying the move will unnecessarily put their health at risk.
Workers feel like they are being rushed back to the office despite the recent surge in cases, an employee, who asked to remain anonymous due to fears about being punished, wrote in an email.
“They’ve been handling COVID horribly, especially for a healthcareadjacent company,” the employee wrote. “Dragging their feet on allowing work from home, and rushing us back in despite increasing cases, because of an insistence on abiding by a corporate culture they say makes in-person work not only preferred, but necessary.”
In her email, Faulkner described Epic employees as “heroes helping heroes” who were needed amid the pandemic.
“As a healthcare company, we support those on the frontlines of patient care,” Faulkner wrote. “Our work helps the lives and health of millions of people, and especially at this very challenging time, we have a responsibility to do our best. And we need to do it safely.”
Epic is unusual in that almost all of its 10,000 employees work on one campus as opposed to having offices throughout the country or world. And Faulkner stressed that working in-person supports collaboration and creativity.
“Since the pandemic started, together we have invented new things that our customers have told us many times have helped them save lives,” she wrote. “Epic staff working together on campus came up with many of the ideas. It is possible these would not have happened in the time they were needed without the catalyst of us being together.”
She also stressed the importance of in-person meetings.
“Meetings are very important — a few people can get together in a large room, wearing masks and maintaining good social distance, and can whiteboard and brainstorm solutions,” she wrote. “Having done both virtual and physical meetings many times these past months, we have learned that there is a significant difference.”