The 80,000 employees of L’Oreal, the cosmetics brand, are currently required to be in office thrice a week. However, observing the low attendance at the workplace at the end of the week, the company has asked its employees to ensure that they are present in office at least two Fridays a month.
Stephane Rinderknech, US president and CEO, L’Oreal has indicated many a time that being associated with beauty products makes it a brand that cannot afford to have its teams working remotely or virtually. Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO, L’Oreal, reportedly revealed at the World Economic Forum that the company is all in support of in-person work. He indicated that working from home adversely affects creativity and the passion to work.
His stance may surely have set other CEOs around the world thinking. Not surprisingly, a recent KPMG report said that about 64 per cent CEOs around the world expect all their employees to return to working full time from office in a year’s time. The vast majority also admitted to being more inclined to reward or promote those who worked in person. That means, the charm of remote work may be waning, as most senior executives appear to favour in-person collaboration. Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla, has been very open about his hatred for the work-from-home culture. In fact, he even referred to those working from home as ‘pampered royalty’.