Michael Bloomberg has once again expressed his opposition to remote work, this time alleging that some employees are indulging in leisure activities like golf when they should be at their desks. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the former New York City mayor and billionaire businessman emphasized that employees are being paid for a full week of work and questioned whether all tasks could effectively be accomplished from home. He humorously pointed out the rise in golf course attendance over the past three years, finding it both amusing and lamentable.
A study conducted by Stanford University researchers in March revealed a substantial increase in golfing during weekdays and mid-afternoons, suggesting that remote work had contributed to this trend. The researchers, Nick Bloom and Alex Finan, hypothesized that employees were using golf as a break while working from home. When CBS’s Mo Rocca mentioned Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey’s estimate that no more than 75% of remote workers would return to the office, Bloomberg dismissed this assertion, asserting that remote work via Zoom was insufficient and that in-person interactions were irreplaceable.
The productivity of remote work remains a subject of disagreement between employees and their managers. According to a Stanford University survey conducted the previous year, employees reported feeling 7.4% more productive when working from home, while managers believed productivity decreased by 3.5% in remote settings.
This is not the first time Bloomberg has raised concerns about remote work. In August, he authored an opinion piece for The Washington Post, arguing that federal employees had been working remotely for too long. He noted that over 80% of employees at his media company adhered to a three-day office attendance policy and planned to increase it to four days in the fall. Bloomberg emphasized the benefits of in-person work, especially for mentoring and nurturing junior staff members, highlighting its importance for professional development and the organization’s future.
Following the publication of Bloomberg’s article, reports indicated that President Biden intensified efforts to bring federal employees back to the office. Several major employers, including Meta, Amazon, and Goldman Sachs, have also discontinued remote work policies, prompting resistance from employees who seek new opportunities or refuse to comply with the return-to-office directives.
Abbie Shipp, a professor of management at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University, described the ongoing conflict as regrettable, emphasizing the missed opportunity to experiment with alternative work arrangements tailored to individual and organizational needs.
