While true, it does highlight the fact that white collar jobs are diverse, and not all of them require one to be in the office. In fact, most of probably do not.
If your job is to meet and talk to customers, then yea, it isn't required to be in the office. In this case, you're not WFH. You're actually WFWCA (where ever customers are).
So is he either a figure head that can work remotely because he doesn’t matter, or is he doing “real work” and it turns out that working remotely does work?
Execs like to paint working remotely as something that is wasteful and so the common employee shouldn’t be allowed to do so, while simultaneously extolling the virtues of their remote work.
It’s reminiscent of the time I worked at one company and the chairman of the board showed up to give us a rousing speech that included the fact that he only showed up because he was going to a board meeting for another company whose board he was on in the same city. This was less than a month after one of our coworkers got shit canned after it was found out that he was moonlighting.
This is a bit ranty by the tl;dnr is that lots of jobs align with remote work and I am personally pissed that you try to frame it as ok because it’s a CEO and then in the next sentence you try to blunt the message by saying he’s just a “co-ceo” so it’s not that bad
Just read the article. He doesn't like to work from the office because he said he prefers to be on the road meeting customers.
Meanwhile, the brand of WFH HN folks want is to not leave the house and interact with real humans in person.
The only reason I said "co-ceo" is because I was responding to someone who, for whatever reason, thinks a multi-billion public company shouldn't have its CEO talk to customers.
That’s odd because the the brand of WFH that most people
I’ve met want is identical to what they do in the office sans the commute. That being that they hop onto a zoom meeting with people who are in other physical locations or they are working independently and the office is just a distraction.
Another commenter mentioned that people were setting up a straw man against your words but I can’t agree. You keep implying that it’s rational for c levels to be working remote and then implying that regular employees only want wfh because they are just anti social.
Your comments are heavily biased with one viewpoint and I heartily disagree with it
> You keep implying that it’s rational for c levels to be working remote and then implying that regular employees only want wfh because they are just anti social.
Why change what was said? The statement wasn't about "c levels" - it was one person who is on the road a lot meeting customers. Like a super senior sales role. That's different to team/collaboration-based roles where colocation might (just before you change this too: remember - might) well massively improve things.
I’ve been working from home for years. I leave the house and interact with real humans in person all the time. Sometimes I interact with real humans in person at home!
You go looking outside offices, it turns out there’re people everywhere. Who knew?
I think that proves a point that some jobs can be done outside of the office, so why not have people work where they prefer? For this CEO it's on the road. For a lot of people it's at home. For a lot of people it's both.
Is he firefighting? Why isnt he doing strategy, management and the other things CEOs do?
Like hiring a CMO or BD head to do all the traveling he is doing?
>Well, I’m a remote worker. I’ve always been a remote worker my whole life. I don’t work well in an office,” Benioff said. “It just doesn’t work for my personality. I can’t tell you why. I do love to go in to visit customers though. I’m on the road constantly visiting customers.”
Ah, so he doesnt need to do sales. He likes doing it. It just …works… for his personality.
I know of one company who got the majority of their business because their CEO wined and dined some of his fellow CEOs and take them rides on his private aircraft. If Benioff is doing that sort of thing and enjoys it, more power to him
Even on the less cynical side, there's something to be said for hearing from customers directly instead of filtered through 5 levels of middle management
There is a lot that happens at that size - one of which you should have a trust worthy team who does exactly that; its why they get paid - leadership.
His is a Saas firm. This argument is inappropriate as a defense. You can do this a few times, the rest of the time he needs to be in office.
Failing which - like elon said - its an excuse to slack off.
So its either
1) odd sales situation
2) weasel worded sentence
3) delinquency - a la Elon “people who wfh are slacking”
It’s great if it’s 1 and he fixes it, but then he has to get back to office. In which case his “i dont have an office personality” line works against him.