Zoom has reportedly planted a flag in Microsoft‘s back garden by signing the lease for a new office in Bellevue, Washington.
According to a report by real estate firm Broderick Group, Zoom has secured a 19,085-square-foot lease at the Symetra Center, a prominent 25-story office tower in Bellevue. This will position Zoom’s new office just down the road from Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond, while Google also has a significant foundation in the broader Seattle area.
By leasing space in Bellevue, Zoom joins a growing list of over 100 tech companies, establishing engineering hubs in the Seattle area to leverage its deep tech talent pool. OpenAI recently set up operations in Bellevue, while Amazon is steadily increasing its already substantial presence. Companies like Snowflake, ByteDance, and Pokémon are also ramping up their expansions in the city, underscoring its emergence as a key destination for tech innovation and growth.
UC Today has contacted Zoom for comment and will update this story accordingly.
Zoom And The Return To Office
Although Zoom is a collaboration technology business whose portfolio is helping galvanise the hybrid and remote work revolutions, it works with a structured hybrid model, which it says is “most effective” for the business.
In 2023, Zoom asked its staff to come into the office twice a week. The policy applies to staff who live “within a commutable distance” of the office, which Zoom specifies as within 50 miles. Zoom’s previous policy during the pandemic had been flexible in that staff could work remotely, on-premises, or on a hybrid model of their selection.
“As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers,” a Zoom spokesperson said at the time. “We’ll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently.”
Naturally, the opening of a new Bellevue office illustrates the company’s commitment to this policy and the benefits of balancing remote and in-person collaboration. It follows the opening of Zoom’s London Engagement Hub in 2023, comprising an innovative space integrated with Zoom technology.
The London space is intended to reflect a shift from traditional office layouts to collaboration-focused working hubs designed to support the growing demand for remote and hybrid work practices. Tailored to the evolving needs of hybrid work, Zoom pitched the space as fostering unconventional and personalised work experiences. It also creates thoughtfully designed environments for employees who live near the office to collaborate in person on designated team days, blending flexibility with opportunities for in-person teamwork.
Zoom’s vision of “innovation hubs” rather than orthodox offices will likely be reflected in the new Bellevue space, too.
Zoom Vs Microsoft Teams In 2025
2025 is set to be another compelling year in the collaboration race, with Zoom Workplace having grown into Microsoft Teams’ most serious competitor in recent years. With that context, Zoom opening up an office close to Microsoft’s HQ almost feels like a symbolic statement of intent.
While Zoom’s core video conferencing product remains its hallmark and the service it’s most publicly renowned for, the company’s expansion into broader workplace tools demonstrates its commitment to offering a thorough UC platform — as compounded by Zoom dropping “Video” from its full legal name late last year.
One of Zoom’s most eye-catching offerings in 2025 is its AI Companion. This integrated assistant rivals Microsoft Copilot by bolstering productivity by automating tasks like meeting summarisation, action item generation, and message drafting. This utilises AI to streamline workflows and refine efficiency, arguably putting Zoom on par with, if not ahead of, competitors like Teams, which integrates Copilot AI into its ecosystem.
In recent years, Zoom also strengthened its UC portfolio with Zoom Phone, a robust cloud telephony solution. With features such as call routing, voicemail transcription, and analytics, Zoom Phone is a direct competitor to Teams’ telephony capabilities. Additionally, the introduction last year of Zoom Docs signals Zoom’s ambition to compete in collaborative document creation, an area where Microsoft has traditionally excelled.
Another key differentiator is Workvivo, Zoom’s employee engagement platform. This platform aims to foster a sense of community and improve internal comms. It complements its UC tools by focusing on the employee experience, an aspect increasingly critical in hybrid and remote work settings.
By integrating these offerings into a cohesive ecosystem, Zoom is very deliberately positioning itself as a holistic workplace service, not just a video platform, and a serious rival to Microsoft Teams.
As last year’s Microsoft Ignite suggested, the tech giant appears to be focusing more and more on Copilot and its broader AI ambitions instead of reinforcing Teams as its crown jewel solution. It’ll be interesting to monitor if Zoom can gain even more ground on Teams’ years of dominance.
