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During a Thursday appearance<\/a> on CNBC Squawk Box, Barry Diller, the CEO and chairman of IAC\u2014as well as chairman of Expedia Group<\/a> and founder of FOX and USA Broadcasting\u2014 said he anticipates the new standard workweek to be four days in the office followed by flexible Fridays. Not ideal, the billionaire business magnate admitted, but better than the two days in office per week his staff is currently working.<\/p>\n The current smattering of workplace arrangements\u2014which often vary from one person to another, even on the same team\u2014is \u201cmadness,\u201d \u201cabsurd,\u201d and \u201cchaos,\u201d Diller told CNBC journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. He anticipates it will result in \u201cnot necessarily a four-day workweek, but four days in the office, and Fridays, you can work from home or work at your own schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n That plan, itself an iteration of flexible work, is \u201cthe sensible evolution of all this,\u201d Diller said, with the qualifier that it has to be \u201cstandardized.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In a roundabout way, Diller is aligned with most flexible-work experts<\/a> on that point. Though they ultimately recommend against any amount of in-person work that would make it impossible for workers to live beyond commuting distance, most can admit that some amount of in-person time<\/a> for collaboration and major decision-making is invaluable.<\/p>\n But even Diller, an avowedly pro-office boss<\/a>, can admit that five days a week in-person is simply beyond the scope of expectation for most workers. \u201cI\u2019ll settle for two-and-a-half or three-and-a-quarter,\u201d he told Sorkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diller is unsurprised by the popularity of remote work, but like many of his peers<\/a>, he doesn\u2019t take it seriously. Workers today \u201cwant total flexibility, less work, stay home and [to] get paid more\u2014of course, why not?\u201d he said. But everyone must be in on the same days. \u201cYou can\u2019t have 17,000 different programs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And for good measure, Diller added, most jobs are simply not effective when done fully remotely. \u201cIf your work involves anything other than sitting and staring at a screen, or customer service, [that] doesn\u2019t involve anybody else in your company, okay,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you relate to anyone else, come into an office and be part of an environment that has so many different things running around inside of it. That betters your life, your career, and betters the business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite his pre-pandemic fully in-person aspirations, Diller nonetheless concedes that a four-day workweek is imminent. Perhaps he should follow the example of billionaire hedge-fund titan and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who appeared on Squawk Box the day before, and announced that in lieu of a four-day workweek, he was investing heavily<\/a> in leisure activities like golf. That\u2019s what all those flexible workers are planning to do with their newfound free time, right?<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the CEO Daily newsletter to get the CEO perspective on the biggest headlines in business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n