Work from home is ‘a Pure Negative’ says Reed Hastings
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Mandatory Credit: Photo by AP/REX/Shutterstock (8444812b) Founder and CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings listens to a question, during an interview with The Associated Press in Barcelona, Spain, . ?Netflix employees were personally affected by U.S. President Donald Trump's attempt to ban people entering from seven Muslim countries, its CEO said Tuesday Wireless Show Netflix, Barcelona, Spain - 28 Feb 2017
Co-CEO of Netflix wants to be back in the office ASAP
Every person around the world is having to adapt to working from home. And as companies try to figure out how to move forward, many companies are making work from home into a permanent thing. Companies such as Google, Twitter, Uber have all added the option to work from home indefinitely.
While certain companies have embraced work from home as the future of the workplace, Reed Hastings, Co-CEO of Netflix is not one of them. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hastings explains that he doesn’t see the benefit for the long run.
WSJ: Have you seen benefits from people working at home?
Mr. Hastings: 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.
WSJ: It’s been anticipated that many companies will shift to a work-from-home approach for many employees even after the Covid-19 crisis. What do you think?
Mr. Hastings: 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.
WSJ: Do you have a date in mind for when your workforce returns to the office?
Mr. Hastings: Twelve hours after a vaccine is approved.
WSJ: I like that.
Mr. Hastings: 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.
In all these cases, it’s expected there will be a degree of flexibility. The danger posed by the pandemic will continue to ebb and flow in different locations, and workers around the world are expected to change their time frames if required.
In Netflix’s case, it seems that Hastings is keen to end remote work as soon as possible. That’s no surprise considering his focus on corporate culture, which the Netflix CEO is currently promoting in his book on the subject, No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention.
Read more of what Hastings said in his interview here.
