{"id":254148,"date":"2024-08-14T11:41:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T11:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/14\/googles-ex-ceo-eric-schmidt-blames-remote-working-on-the-companys-ai-woes\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:12:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:12:26","slug":"googles-ex-ceo-eric-schmidt-blames-remote-working-on-the-companys-ai-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/14\/googles-ex-ceo-eric-schmidt-blames-remote-working-on-the-companys-ai-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s ex-CEO Eric Schmidt blames remote working on the company\u2019s AI woes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/GettyImages-103873840-e1723631899104.jpg?w=2048\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Google\u2019s former CEO Eric Schmidt has a complaint about his old stomping ground\u2014and it\u2019s one that workers have heard on repeat for the past two years: They aren\u2019t working in the office enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Schmidt, who left <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/company\/alphabet\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/company\/alphabet\/\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\">Google<\/a> for good in 2020, blasted the company\u2019s working-from-home policy during a recent talk at Stanford University, while claiming it\u2019s the reason why the search engine giant is lagging behind in the AI race.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoogle decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning,\u201d Schmidt told Stanford students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the reason startups work is because the people work like hell.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Stanford ECON295\/CS323 I 2024 I The Age of AI, Eric Schmidt\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LxDM8io4lUA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry to be so blunt,\u201d Schmidt continued in the video\u00a0posted on Stanford\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/company\/youtube\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/company\/youtube\/\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> channel on Tuesday. \u201cBut the fact of the matter is, if you all leave the university and go found a company, you\u2019re not gonna let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schmidt made the remarks in response to a question from professor Erik Brynjolfsson about how Google have lost the lead in AI to startups like OpenAI and Anthropic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked [Google CEO] Sundar [Pichai] this, he didn\u2019t really give me a very sharp answer. Maybe you have a sharper or a more objective explanation for what\u2019s going on there,\u201d Brynjolfsson posed to the former Google boss.<\/p>\n<p><em>Fortune<\/em> has contacted Schmidt and Google for comment.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WFH became the norm at Google after Schmidt left<\/h2>\n<p>Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2011, before handing the reins back to the search giant\u2019s co-founder Larry Page, stayed on as Google\u2019s executive chairman and technical advisor until 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the world of work has undergone a significant transformation. Despite the dangers of the pandemic being long behind us, companies are largely still operating remotely\u2014at least for part of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact,<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/04\/12\/kpmg-study-us-ceos-accept-hybrid-working-employee-return-to-office\/?utm_source=search&amp;utm_medium=advanced_search&amp;utm_campaign=search_link_clicks\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/04\/12\/kpmg-study-us-ceos-accept-hybrid-working-employee-return-to-office\/?utm_source=search&amp;utm_medium=advanced_search&amp;utm_campaign=search_link_clicks\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\"> a study from KPMG<\/a> recently revealed that CEOs who believe office workers will be back at their desks five days a week in the near future are now in the small minority.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth highlighting that Schmidt\u2019s one-day-a-week remark is an exaggeration: Like most firms, Google has asked workers to come into offices around three days a week, per the company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/about.google\/belonging\/diversity-annual-report\/2022\/flexibility\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/about.google\/belonging\/diversity-annual-report\/2022\/flexibility\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\">2022 Diversity Annual Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, Google has even begun formally tracking office badge swipes and using it as a metric in performance reviews.<\/p>\n<p>However, Schmidt should note that employee backlash from rigid return-to-office mandates could actually wipe out any productivity gains in Google\u2019s AI department.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WFH, RTO and productivity<\/h2>\n<p>Schmidt\u2019s not the first leader to complain that working from home kills innovation. <\/p>\n<p>However, CEOs who order their staff to work from an office five days \u00e0 la pre-pandemic risk having fewer staff around to innovate.<\/p>\n<p>Reams of <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/07\/24\/return-to-office-mandates-layoffs-bamboohr-survey\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/07\/24\/return-to-office-mandates-layoffs-bamboohr-survey\/\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\">research<\/a> suggest that workers would quit their jobs if forced to return to their company\u2019s vertical towers. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, leaders who have already enforced an RTO mandate have admitted they experienced <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/europe\/2023\/08\/01\/research-damaging-results-mandated-return-to-office-worse-than-we-thought-rto-remote-work-careers-leadership-gleb-tsipursky\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/europe\/2023\/08\/01\/research-damaging-results-mandated-return-to-office-worse-than-we-thought-rto-remote-work-careers-leadership-gleb-tsipursky\/\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\">more attrition<\/a> than they anticipated and are struggling with recruitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Elon Musk, for one, has been an outspoken advocate for in-office work\u2014he quickly found out that employees will call their bosses ultimatum to commute to work or find another job.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter\u2019s (now X) operations <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/11\/17\/elon-musk-twitter-work-hardcore-or-leave-exodus\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/11\/17\/elon-musk-twitter-work-hardcore-or-leave-exodus\/\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\">were put at risk<\/a> soon after he took over when more workers than expected chose to quit rather than answer Musk\u2019s call to go \u201chardcore\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, even if employees don\u2019t quit in anger, they\u2019ll likely have less zing for their jobs: A staggering 99% of companies with <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/01\/26\/return-to-office-job-satisfaction-financial-performance-study\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/01\/26\/return-to-office-job-satisfaction-financial-performance-study\/\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\">RTO mandates<\/a> have seen a drop in engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Either way, Google\u2019s lack of innovation in the AI department can\u2019t be down to staff working from home more than those at OpenAI\u2014they have the same <a href=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/careers\/accounts-payable-lead\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/openai.com\/careers\/accounts-payable-lead\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\">3-day in-office policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-cy=\"subscriptionPlea\"><strong>Recommended Newsletter:<\/strong> The Fortune Next to Lead newsletter is a must-read for the next generation of C-suite leaders. Every Monday, the newsletter provides the strategies, resources, and expert insight needed to claim the most coveted positions in business. <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/newsletters\/next-to-lead?&amp;itm_source=fortune&amp;itm_medium=article_tout&amp;itm_campaign=next_to_lead_v2&amp;itm_content=elon_amazon_google\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/newsletters\/next-to-lead?&amp;itm_source=fortune&amp;itm_medium=article_tout&amp;itm_campaign=next_to_lead_v2&amp;itm_content=elon_amazon_google\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ\" rel=\"noopener\">Subscribe now<\/a>.<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/08\/14\/google-eric-schmidt-working-from-home-ai-openai\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Google\u2019s former CEO Eric Schmidt has a complaint about his old stomping ground\u2014and it\u2019s one that workers have heard on repeat for the past<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":254149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}