Working From Home isn’t Working
Working from home and productivity. “In-person time helps build relationships and get more done.” Mark Zuckerberg
In the last six months Meta has effectively cut about 30% of its workforce.
In November 2022, Meta laid off 11,000 employees. On 3/14/2023, Zuckerberg announced another 10,000 layoffs. Together that represents cutting 26% of Meta’s workforce. Additionally, they aren’t filling 5,000 open positions. (nytimes.com)
Working From Home isn’t Working:
Meta is encouraging people to move back into the office. Zuckerberg posted a company update that included the following sentence,
“I encourage all of you to find more opportunities to work with your colleagues in person.”
Meta’s early findings on working from home:
- Hire in-person. “Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person performed better on average than people who joined remotely.”
- Work in-person. “… engineers earlier in their career perform better on average when they work in-person with teammates at least three days a week.”
- Build trust in-person. “… our hypothesis is that it is still easier to build trust in person and that those relationships help us work more effectively.”
4 problems with working from home:
- Mistakes. Working from home increases your risk of making mistakes. Daily Mail
- Creativity. The best way to generate great ideas is solitude AFTER you’ve generated ideas WITH others. Fast Company
- Accountability. It’s easier to do the right thing when someone is watching. BBC
- Promotions. People will forget you if they don’t see you. Recency Effect
The flourishing factor:
The #1 factor in the good life isn’t genes, exercise, career achievement, money, or a healthy diet. CNBC
“Positive relationships keep us happier, healthier, and help us live longer. Harvard Gazette
We need people in our lives. Virtual relationships are wonderful. Face-to-face is better.
Read: 7 Reasons Returning to the Office is a Good Idea
When does working from home, work? Not work?
