Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is ordering most US staff in his organization back to the office five days a week starting February 2, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider.
The memo, titled “Building a Winning Culture in 2026,” says the change applies to employees in US offices with assigned desks and is part of a broader push to make Instagram “more nimble and creative” as competition intensifies.
“I believe that we are more creative and collaborative when we are together in-person,” Mosseri wrote. “I felt this pre-COVID and I feel it any time I go to our New York office where the in-person culture is strong.”
Earlier this year, Amazon told many corporate employees to return to the office five days a week. Other tech giants such as Alphabet, Apple, and Microsoft have taken a slightly softer approach, generally requiring staff to be in the office at least three days a week.
The memo, first reported by Alex Heath’s Sources newsletter, also announced a slew of other changes. Recurring meetings will be canceled every six months and only re-added if “absolutely necessary.” Employees are encouraged to decline meetings that interfere with focus time.
“I want most of your time focused on building great products, not preparing for meetings,” Mosseri wrote.
The Instagram chief also called for more product prototypes than slide decks.
“Prototypes allow us to establish a proof of concept and get a real sense for social dynamics, and we use them far too infrequently,” Mosseri wrote.
“2026 is going to be tough, as was 2025, but I’m excited about our momentum and our plans for next year,” Mosseri wrote. “These changes are going to meaningfully help us move Instagram forward in a way we can all be proud of — with creativity, boldness, and craft.”
Meta declined to comment.
Read the full memo below:
Building a Winning Culture in 2026
We’ve made good progress this year on Instagram standing for creativity and Threads standing for perspectives, but we still need to do more if we want to lead in both of these areas. A big part of this will come down to strategy, and I feel good about the plan we’ve put together for next half. Equally important is how well we work. I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can be more nimble and creative in order to stay competitive. It’s clear we have to evolve, so we’re going to make a series of changes next year:
1. Back to the office: I believe that we are more creative and collaborative when we are together in-person. I felt this pre-COVID and I feel it any time I go to our New York office where the in-person culture is strong.
Starting February 2, I’m asking everyone in my rollup based in a US office with assigned desks to come back full time (five days a week). The specifics:
- You’ll still have the flexibility to work from home when you need to, since I recognize there will be times you won’t be able to come into the office. I trust you all to use your best judgment in figuring out how to adapt to this schedule.
- In the NY office, we won’t expect you to come back full time until we’ve alleviated the space constraints. We’ll share more once we have a better sense of timeline.
- In MPK, we’ll move from MPK21 to MPK22 on January 26 so everyone has an assigned desk. We’re also offering the option to transfer from the MPK to SF office for those people whose commute would be the same or better with that change. We’ll reach out directly to those people with more info.
- XFN partners will continue to follow their own org norms.
- There is no change for employees who are currently remote.
2. Fewer meetings: We all spend too much time in meetings that are not effective, and it’s slowing us down. Every six months, we’ll cancel all recurring meetings and only re-add the ones that are absolutely necessary. I also support everyone in making recurring 1:1s biweekly by default and declining meetings if they fall during your focus blocks.
3. More demos, less decks: Most product overviews should be prototypes instead of decks. Prototypes allow us to establish a proof of concept and get a real sense for social dynamics, and we use them far too infrequently. If a strategy doc is appropriate, it should be three pages, max, and follow this template. If a deck is necessary, it should be as tight as possible. For all reviews, make it very clear up front what the goal of the meeting is and what the key points are that you need to discuss. I want most of your time focused on building great products, not preparing for meetings.
4. Faster decision-making: We’re going to have a more formalized unblocking process with DRIs, and I’ll be at the priorities progress unblocking meeting every week. (On weeks where I’m not able to attend, I’ll delegate decision-making to one of my directs.) This way open decisions don’t sit for more than a few days, max.
At next week’s All Hands, I’ll talk more about these changes, and you’ll hear from people around the team about our priorities for next year. 2026 is going to be tough, as was 2025, but I’m excited about our momentum and our plans for next year. These changes are going to meaningfully help us move Instagram forward in a way we can all be proud of — with creativity, boldness, and craft.
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