WeWork's CEO believes that remote workers are less engaged at work.
The comments are hardly surprising given WeWork's business model, which ultimately involves filling up office space.
What impact will this have on employers wanting to return to the office?
Share
The desire to work from home, or not, is linked to how engaged employees are at work.
That’s according to WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani. The CEO, who stepped into the role last year, said that those people most comfortable working from home were “least engaged” with their company. Meanwhile, those who are “overly engaged” want to go to the office.
Mathrani made the comments during the Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything festival on Wednesday.
He added: “No one is saying they don’t want to go to work. They are saying ‘I wanna go to work two or three days a week’ and ‘I’d like to work from home a day a week.
“It’s also pretty obvious that those who are overly engaged with the company want to go to the office two-thirds of the time at least,” he noted. “Those who are least engaged are very comfortable working from home.”
Additionally. the CEO said the office was an important part of building company culture, collaborating, and innovating.
The comments are hardly surprising given WeWork’s business model, which ultimately involves filling up office space.
According to Business Insider, the company — co-founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey — recently told investors it was expecting a significant rise in occupancy during a pitch to value the business at approximately $9 billion.
Mathrani is not the only business leader to express his dislike of remote working. Back in February, Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon said working from home was an “aberration”.
Over in the UK, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, also made headlines when he said workers must be allowed to return to offices or they’ll vote with their feet and quit.
Empty office buildings all over the world have posed a significant threat to the future of the high street. Recent research by YouGov for HR tech firm Applaud found that 53% of organizations were planning to offer more flexible or remote working policies to employees.
Additionally, some 26% of businesses in the UK said they would either close, downsize, or consolidate their offices over the coming months.
Sign up to the UNLEASH Newsletter
Get the Editor’s picks of the week delivered straight to your inbox!
