Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, believes that it is important for young professionals to work from office. Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, he highlighted the significance of in-person workplace interactions, especially for young professionals looking to advance their careers.
He revealed, “When I was a young executive, I had no idea what I was doing. I was just lucky to be there, learning by hanging out at the water cooler, attending meetings, and being around the office.” He emphasised that the informal learning and networking that come from being in an office environment were essential to his career growth.
Schmidt firmly stated, “If you’re in your 20s, you need to be in the office because that’s how you’ll get promoted.”
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Notably, Schmidt’s comments align with studies showing a link between office presence and career advancement. A January study by Live Data Technologies, mentioned in The Wall Street Journal, revealed that fully remote workers were 31% less likely to earn promotions compared to those working in hybrid or office settings.
He further acknowledged that remote work can increase productivity in certain situations, he emphasized his preference for in-office work. “The evidence shows remote work can boost productivity in some contexts,” he noted. “I personally don’t like it, but I respect the data.”
He said, “At least for the industries that have been studied, there’s evidence that allowing that flexibility from work from home increases productivity. I don’t happen to like it, but I want to acknowledge the science is there.”
For the unversed, major companies have been reassessing their remote work policies. Companies like Amazon, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs have introduced stricter return-to-office requirements, with some linking compliance to performance evaluations or job security.
Meta, which now mandates at least three days in the office per week, defended its policy with internal data. CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in 2023 that “people who work from home are not efficient, and engineers who come to the office get more work done.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared similar sentiments, calling the push for “full remote forever” one of the tech industry’s “worst mistakes.”
