Google's ex-CEO U-turns after saying staff 'going home early' killed winning

Eric Schmidt, Google's ex-CEO and executive chairman has had to row back on remarks he made that linked the megacorp's poor showing in the AI race with the company's flexible working policies.

Stanford Online uploaded a video of Schmidt's talk to students at the top US university to YouTube earlier this week, as reported by the WSJ. The video explained, from Schmidt's perspective, why Google had slipped behind when competing with companies such as OpenAI.

Schmidt said: "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning.

"The reason startups work is because the people work like hell."

The video has since been made private following a request from Schmidt to take it down, although clips are still circulating online. In an email to the Wall Street Journal, Schmidt said: "I misspoke about Google and their work hours."

"I regret my error."

As well he might. The Alphabet Workers Union, via X, gave an alternative explanation for a slowdown in the work of Google staffers: "Understaffing, shifting priorities, constant layoffs, stagnant wages and lack of follow-through from management on projects,

"These factors slow Google workers down every day."

While Schmidt might, publicly at least, regret his words, Google's actions alongside many of its tech peers speak differently as executives seek to cram the working-from-home genie released during the pandemic back into its lamp.

In 2023, Google announced plans to cut 12,000 employees and suggested those that remain should spend more time in the office or face the consequences in the form of a sinister suggestion of "next steps" from HR.

The search giant even went as far as to say it would track the office badge of employees – at intervals – to confirm attendance, with chief people officer Fiona Cicconi saying the three days a week in office metric would be a part of performance reviews. Managers were told to send reminders to staff "who are consistently absent from the office."

Other companies, such as Amazon, have also mandated a return to the office for staff amid fears that a lack of in-person interaction was harming company profits opportunities for learning and mentorship.

Setting aside the fact that many staff prefer working from home to the extent that workers will actively seek employers that offer flexibility – just ask Dell – there is compelling evidence that Return To Office (RTO) mandates can stunt innovation and data published at the end of 2023 indicated that the RTO initiative was pretty much dead.

• Half of Dell US staff reportedly opted for remote work
• 'Return to Office' declared dead
• WFH mandates bad for staff morale and stunt innovation
• 'What's the point of me being in my office, just because they want to see me in the office?'

Schmidt is reported as saying, "If you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups."

Blaming the Chocolate Factory's AI woes on flexible working seems a bit of a stretch. The recent privacy furor over its Gemini assistant has less to do with workers in an office and more to do with corporate decision-making.

Still, staffers preferring flexible working conditions can be a useful scapegoat when identifying reasons why a company might not always match its peers in innovation. ®