Ex-Google CEO Schmidt also revealed that Alphabet’s failure in the so-called AI race is partly due to the firm’s focus on employee well-being, including flexible hours and telecommuting.
As the CEO of Google between 2001 and 2011 and the executive chairperson between 2011 and 2015, Schmidt has time and time expressly expressed his concerns regarding the remote work culture that has become rampant in organizations since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking about the incentives for employees, the exec said that Google understood that work-life balance and going home early and working from home is more important than winning. The reason these startups work is the people work their ass off, Schmidt stated in one of the videos that spread across social networks.
He went on to say, “Sorry to be so frank with you all, but if all of you establish a university and then move on to launch a company, you won’t allow people to work from home and come to the office only one day a week if you want to compete with other new startups.
While people were indeed dissatisfied with employees, Schmidt’s harsh words were not appreciated. Moreover, they accused him of having rather limited vision and viewing employees only as culprits.
It is interesting to note that one of the users of this site said, “They are losing because they embraced bureaucracy and politics a long time ago. >>> They actively hate half their customers, and the product is not the first thing on their minds. ”
As another user said, “But nothing about how Google started to stagnate and is currently being led by people with MBA degrees that can’t create anything from a napkin. ”
Notably, while Schmidt has had the audacity to make fun of others, although he is similarly guilty, Google, too, recently requires its workers to report to work three days in a five-day working week and has also begun enforcing strict checks of attendance with a view to incorporating such information in annual performance assessments.
Commenting on such changes, the former Google CEO has once again sparked a heated discussion about the feasibility of remote work and its implications for organizational performance and innovation. People are insisting on finding the middle ground amid the ever-growing threats in the tech-driven environment.
