While many are reaping the benefits of working from home, Netflix CEO and founder Reed Hastings is not a fan.
In March, Netflix cut off its Hollywood office fees after an employee is believed to have tested positive for COVID-19. The company saw employees fighting the spread of the virus join several other tech giants, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, to work from home.
However, while many have talked about the benefits of remote work – such as more family time, and improved productivity due to lack of travel – Hastings said he believes working from home is a “pure negative.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal On Monday, when asked if he saw any benefit to employees working from home, he said: “No. I don’t see any positivity. Not being able to connect face to face, especially internationally, is a pure negative. I am very impressed with the sacrifices of the people. ”
While some companies, such as Twitter, plan to adopt a full setup from home even once the COVID-19 vaccine has been developed, Hastings does not expect to follow Netflix. Instead, he said WSJ He expects many companies to hire employees four days a week in office fees and allow them to work from home once a week.
“If I were to speculate, a five-day workweek office fee would be four days, while one day is virtual from home. That’s where a lot of companies end up betting, “he said.
Even for Netflix, though, the key to getting people back into the fee is an effective vaccine. “Once we can vaccinate the majority of people, then it’s probably back in the fees,” Hastings said. He added that it would take six months or more for the vaccine to arrive.
Despite Hastings’ opinions, Netflix has benefited from people who spend more time at home. It gained another 26 million paid subscribers in the first six months of the year, boosting revenue by 25% to 6. 6.15 billion in the second quarter.
Hastings said Netflix has resumed production in “most of Europe and Asia” and added: “Hopefully during September and October we can actually get – with proper testing – more going on.”
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