Feedback on working from home -- the initial opinions are changing

Most people can’t wait until they can be back in the office.  But Twitter and Facebook have permanent work-from-home visions. ... Netflix’s CEO called it a “pure negative”.   JP Morgan’s CEO was negative too.

Apple CEO Tim Cook just built an expensive office building designed to encourage informal collaboration, not for working from home. Cook said “I don’t believe that we’ll return to the way we were, because we found that there are some things that actually work really well virtually.”  

Cook claimed Innovation has continued to take place, even as “85 to 90% of the company” was working remotely. But for creativity “you depend on people kind of running into each other over the course of a day.  ...  We have designed our entire office such that there are common areas where people congregate and talk about different things. And you can’t schedule those times.  ...  And so, I think the vast majority of us can’t wait until we can be back in the office again. Hopefully that occurs sometime next year, who knows exactly what the date may be,”  Cook said.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told the Wall Street Journal in September:
“No. I don’t see any positives. Not being able to get together in person, particularly internationally, is a pure negative. I’ve been super impressed at people’s sacrifices.  ...  Debating ideas is harder now.  ...  If I had to guess, the five-day workweek will become four days in the office while one day is virtual from home. I’d bet that’s where a lot of companies end up  ...  It’s probably six months after a vaccine. Once we can get a majority of people vaccinated, then it’s probably back in the office."

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said it was time to get people back to the office. “Going back to work is a good thing  ...  There will be permanent changes from this.”  Dimon told analysts in a private meeting that working from home seems to have impacted younger employees, with Monday and Friday being particularly unproductive, and overall productivity and “creative combustion” has taken a hit.  A JPMorgan spokesman said employee productivity was affected “in general, not just younger employees,” but added that younger workers “could be disadvantaged by missed learning opportunities.”

Facebook, Twitter, Okta, and Box, have made announcements about working from home becoming a permanent, or an option for employees. Facebook says up to half its employees might be working remotely in five to 10 years. Google extended its work from home policy until next July, but it may not be permanent.

All these companies own and lease large amounts of office space. Most people working from home say it saves a lot of commuting time, but miss the interactions at the office.  Opinions are changing to now believing creativity and problem solving are better when working in an office, for most employees.  The final decisions may have strong implications for office space needs, the health of  businesses located close to office buildings, and gasoline use for driving to work.