Recently meta blackmailed Terminating employees who do not comply with strict obligations to return to the office. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains enthusiastic about the potential for remote work, even though it’s not a commonly used technology today.
on thursday episode On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Zuckerberg was interviewed inside the Metaverse. He and Fridman conversed in a virtual reality space using a Meta Quest Pro VR headset and photorealistic codec avatars (technology provided by Meta). still under development.
The experience was so eerily real that Fridman marveled over and over again, saying things like, “This is truly the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” and “It feels like we’re in the same room.” Ta.
During the wide-ranging conversation, Zuckerberg ultimately made the switch to remote work.
“One of the things that interests me is there’s a lot of discussion going on right now about remote work and people being together,” he said. “I think this will allow people to work in different locations physically but still feel like they’re actually together. The dream is that people will one day be able to work anywhere they want. I think the thing is, it gives us all the same opportunity because it allows us to feel like we’re physically together.”
He contrasted the technology he and Fridman used with the technology most remote workers now use to connect with far-flung colleagues.
“I don’t think just video conferencing and the basic technology that we have will get us there today,” he said.
Mr. Zuckerberg is one of many CEOs who require employees to return to the office and use techniques such as tracking key cards to force managers to enforce policies. However, Mr. Mehta is pushing for his reinstatement, which would require him to work in an office for three days. It didn’t go smoothlyMany employees report to work but struggle to reserve a meeting room or find a desk for the day.
“We don’t yet understand hybrid work,” Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, admitted. Facebook Threaded post is owned by Meta.
But Zuckerberg spoke passionately on Fridman’s podcast about the potential for remote work with the technology they use. That way, over time, you can “get closer” to the feeling of being physically together, he said.
He continued: “Wouldn’t that bring a lot of opportunities? That way people could physically live wherever they wanted, and at the same time enjoy the benefits of living physically and being with people at work. Because you can get a feel for it and that helps you build more culture and build better relationships. And it builds trust, but if you haven’t met people face-to-face before, that’s a big problem. I think it will be.”
In 2020, Mr. Zuckerberg boasted Meta accepts remote work. “We intend to be the most forward-thinking company of our size when it comes to remote work, with a thoughtful and responsible plan for how we enable remote work,” he said at the time. He estimated that about half of the company’s employees will be working remotely within the next five to 10 years.
But he then his tone changed.
Paul Graham, co-founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, said in June: My thoughts on remote work have changed And they’re trying to get people back to the office… How did these smart people get fooled? In part, I think it’s because remote work works initially if you start with a healthy system of in-person work already in place. ”
But doubts have crept in for many business leaders. Some worried about maintaining a strong company culture and mentoring young employees who would see little, if any, face-to-face contact.others Worried Remote workers are secretly multitasking, perhaps by using AI tools to complete tasks faster than before.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman It was a mistake to call remote work an “experiment”That’s what I’m saying. stripe “The experiment is over,” he said at a conference this summer. “The technology is not yet strong enough for people to be fully remote forever, especially in startups.”
Zuckerberg seems to feel the same way about today’s technology. But the extent to which Metaverse’s headset allays CEOs’ concerns about remote work remains an open question.
This story was originally Fortune.com
