Zoom has reportedly planted a flag in Microsoft‘s again backyard by signing the lease for a brand new workplace in Bellevue, Washington.
Based on a report by actual property agency Broderick Group, Zoom has secured a 19,085-square-foot lease on the Symetra Heart, a outstanding 25-story workplace tower in Bellevue. This can place Zoom’s new workplace simply down the highway from Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond, whereas Google additionally has a major basis within the broader Seattle space.
By leasing house in Bellevue, Zoom joins a rising record of over 100 tech firms, establishing engineering hubs within the Seattle space to leverage its deep tech expertise pool. OpenAI just lately arrange operations in Bellevue, whereas Amazon is steadily growing its already substantial presence. Corporations like Snowflake, ByteDance, and Pokémon are additionally ramping up their expansions within the metropolis, underscoring its emergence as a key vacation spot for tech innovation and progress.
UC Immediately has contacted Zoom for remark and can replace this story accordingly.
Zoom And The Return To Workplace
Though Zoom is a collaboration expertise enterprise whose portfolio helps galvanise the hybrid and distant work revolutions, it really works with a structured hybrid mannequin, which it says is “only” for the enterprise.
In 2023, Zoom requested its employees to return into the workplace twice every week. The coverage applies to employees who reside “inside a commutable distance” of the workplace, which Zoom specifies as inside 50 miles. Zoom’s earlier coverage throughout the pandemic had been versatile in that employees may work remotely, on-premises, or on a hybrid mannequin of their choice.
“As an organization, we’re in a greater place to make use of our personal applied sciences, proceed to innovate, and assist our international prospects,” a Zoom spokesperson stated on the time. “We’ll proceed to leverage the whole Zoom platform to maintain our workers and dispersed groups linked and dealing effectively.”
Naturally, the opening of a brand new Bellevue workplace illustrates the corporate’s dedication to this coverage and the advantages of balancing distant and in-person collaboration. It follows the opening of Zoom’s London Engagement Hub in 2023, comprising an progressive house built-in with Zoom expertise.
The London house is meant to mirror a shift from conventional workplace layouts to collaboration-focused working hubs designed to assist the rising demand for distant and hybrid work practices. Tailor-made to the evolving wants of hybrid work, Zoom pitched the house as fostering unconventional and personalised work experiences. It additionally creates thoughtfully designed environments for workers who reside close to the workplace to collaborate in individual on designated crew days, mixing flexibility with alternatives for in-person teamwork.
Zoom’s imaginative and prescient of “innovation hubs” quite than orthodox places of work will possible be mirrored within the new Bellevue house, too.
Zoom Vs Microsoft Groups In 2025
2025 is about to be one other compelling yr within the collaboration race, with Zoom Office having grown into Microsoft Groups’ most critical competitor lately. With that context, Zoom opening up an workplace near Microsoft’s HQ nearly seems like a symbolic assertion of intent.
Whereas Zoom’s core video conferencing product stays its hallmark and the service it’s most publicly famend for, the corporate’s enlargement into broader office instruments demonstrates its dedication to providing a radical UC platform — as compounded by Zoom dropping “Video” from its full authorized title late final yr.
Certainly one of Zoom’s most eye-catching choices in 2025 is its AI Companion. This built-in assistant rivals Microsoft Copilot by bolstering productiveness by automating duties like assembly summarisation, motion merchandise era, and message drafting. This utilises AI to streamline workflows and refine effectivity, arguably placing Zoom on par with, if not forward of, opponents like Groups, which integrates Copilot AI into its ecosystem.
In recent times, Zoom additionally strengthened its UC portfolio with Zoom Cellphone, a sturdy cloud telephony answer. With options similar to name routing, voicemail transcription, and analytics, Zoom Cellphone is a direct competitor to Groups’ telephony capabilities. Moreover, the introduction final yr of Zoom Docs indicators Zoom’s ambition to compete in collaborative doc creation, an space the place Microsoft has historically excelled.
One other key differentiator is Workvivo, Zoom’s worker engagement platform. This platform goals to foster a way of group and enhance inner comms. It enhances its UC instruments by specializing in the worker expertise, a facet more and more important in hybrid and distant work settings.
By integrating these choices right into a cohesive ecosystem, Zoom may be very intentionally positioning itself as a holistic office service, not only a video platform, and a critical rival to Microsoft Groups.
As final yr’s Microsoft Ignite advised, the tech large seems to be focusing increasingly on Copilot and its broader AI ambitions as an alternative of reinforcing Groups as its crown jewel answer. It’ll be fascinating to observe if Zoom can achieve much more floor on Groups’ years of dominance.
