4 days ago
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston: 'Forcing people back to the office…is unproductive if you…'
Dropbox CEO
Drew Houston said that forcing employees back to office makes no sense if the same work can be done virtually. Speaking in an episode of Fortune's "Leadership Next" podcast, Houston said 'Forcing people back to the office is probably gonna be like trying to force people back into malls and movie theaters. Nothing wrong with the movie theater, but it's just a different world now'. He further stated 'It is unproductive if you just sort of try to photocopy what you're doing in the office onto Zoom'.
'We don't have to do this—we can be a lot less dumb than forcing people back into a car three days a week or whatever, to literally be back on the same Zoom meeting they would have been at home. There's a better way to do this,' he said.
For those unaware, Dropbox switched to a 'virtual first' way of working in 2020, making remote work the main setup for its employees. In 2021, the company introduced a 90/10 rule—employees
work from home
for about 90% of the year and meet in person at a few company events during the remaining 10%.
In a 2023 interview, Dropbox CEO said that remote work has given companies "the keys that unlock this whole future of work."
"You need a different social contract and to let go of control. But if you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance," he then said.
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