The pandemic caused the emergence of numerous phenomena in the labor market. The expansion of teleworking, the Great Resignation, the silent resignation or the silent layoffs are some of the examples of how the advancement of technology is capable of modify forms and work habits at a certain historical moment.
However, many firms have chosen to reduce telecommuting as restrictions to combat COVID have been lifted. Some companies, such as Twitter, even removed it. This has sparked a debate about the future of remote work, an issue that was recently addressed by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, at a conference organized by Stripe.
The executive director of the firm that created ChatGPT affirmed that the worst mistake of the technology industry was to think that everyone could work from home, “and that startups did not have to be together,” according to Business Today. Altman noted that the belief that there would be no loss of creativity led the firms to run an experiment on telecommuting that is now “done.”
Additionally, the CEO of OpenAI pointed out that, currently, the technological level “not good enough” as for wage earners to work in a full telecommuting regime, especially in the cases of start-ups. Altman’s take on working at home, on the other hand, has been the same for a few years: in October 2020, the billionaire pointed out on Twitter that the toughest and most creative jobs required face-to-face collaboration.
The consequences of teleworking
On the other hand, in January of this year he again stated that some companies were now suffering the negative effects of teleworking, although he acknowledged that, for certain firms, remote work can work. Of course, Altman insisted on the idea that the telecommuting does not encourage hard workan approach closely linked to productivity paranoia, a concept coined by Microsoft that designates the unfounded fear of certain businessmen that professionals are not productive working at home when, in fact, they are more productive doing so than in the office.
However, Altman acknowledged in the Stripe discussion that there are OpenAI employees working from home. According to Business Today, the businessman stated that “some of our best people are teleworking, and we will continue to support this policy.” Thus, Altman recognized the potential of teleworking, used by his company to attract and retain highly qualified professionals, offering them, in some cases, salaries below those established in the US and Europe.
Altman insists on the idea that telecommuting does not encourage hard work
This idea that face-to-face encourages creative work is not unique to Altman. Bob Iger, CEO of Disney – whose employees come to the office at least four days a week – said in a message sent to workers in January that “in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe and create with colleagues by being physically together.
For his part, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, stated in the message informing the staff of returning to the office, at least three days a week, that there is something “in being face to face with others, looking at eyes and see that being fully immersed in whatever it is you’re discussing brings people together.”
However, there are companies that have made the opposite bet and have reinforced teleworking with the aim of gaining competitiveness. Atlassian, a large software company, decided to incorporate telecommuting into its organizational structure and created the ‘Team Anyware’ program, which gives its teleworkers greater flexibility in terms of time and place.
For its part, Rent a Recruiter, an Irish SME, decided last year to combine the four-day week with teleworking with the aim of increase your competitiveness in the market. The results were very positive: increased hiring and decreased staff turnover.
In short, while some top CEOs have shown a penchant for the face-to-face model, very few have completely eliminated remote work as Elon Musk did on Twitter. Most have chosen to combine remote work with an increase in face-to-face work, giving rise to a hybrid model that allows firms to retain workers who would not accept going to the office every day to work and, at the same time, persuade employees more qualified professionals who seek flexibility in time and place when working.
