Dropbox CEO believes that return-to-office mandates are toxic

Remote work just gained a new ally. Dropbox  (DBX) CEO Drew Houston revealed that he believes that the return-to-office mandates that many CEOs are trying to enforce upon their employees can foster a “really toxic relationship,” according to a new interview with The Verge.

“This whole flexibility thing wasn’t in the cards,” said Houston while speaking to The Verge. “I think that’s what a lot of CEOs today misunderstand. They keep mashing the 'go back to 2019' button, and they see it’s not working. Then they just push harder, and then you have this really toxic relationship.”

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In the interview, Houston also said that the market will eventually reveal how profitable forcing employees back into the office will be for businesses. He also compared companies’ efforts to lure employees back into the office with snacks and other perks to trying to get people back into movie theaters.

“I think now people have voted with their feet that they value flexibility a lot more than snacks in the office,” said Houston in the interview. “At home, you can set up your environment exactly how you want it and not just have snacks but your dog and something that’s totally purpose-built for you. So, I think forcing people back into the office is sort of trying to force people back into movie theaters — maybe you can do it for Top Gun once — or getting people back into malls or something. It was cool. Movie theaters were great, and malls were great for their time, but the world has moved on.”

The CEO also revealed that Dropbox is remote-first and doesn’t ask its employees to commute to any office and has instead converted some of its offices to collaborative spaces where employees can choose to connect in-person to work on projects.

“We see our employees as our customers,” said Houston in the interview. “We will support however they want to gather, but we’re finding that these retreats and off-sites and things like that are often a lot more effective than asking people to commute.”

He also claimed that after studying remote-first companies, Dropbox decided to be only 90% remote in 2020.

“We decided not to be 100% remote because you lose the in-person part,” he said.

Many big name companies and CEOs have been engaging in a war against remote work by enforcing strict return to office policies. For example, Dell recently began mandating that its employees work from their offices at least three days a week, a move which has reportedly caused turmoil within the company.

L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said during the World Economic Forum on Jan. 17 that his company began mandating workers to return to the office with the option of working remotely only two days a week. He also claimed that remote work has a negative impact on mental health.

“I think it’s vital to be in the office,” said Hieronimus during the conference. “It’s about serendipity. It’s about meeting people. And it’s also more fair to workers because we have lots of young people who have small houses or have young kids, and working from home is actually very bad for their mental health.”

Hieronimus also reportedly said during the forum that the return to in-office work is “fair to the blue collar workers that work every day in the factory.”

In spite of increased opposition, remote work appears to be the most favorable option amongst most U.S. corporate employees. A recent survey from USA Today showed that over a third of white-collar employees said that they would look for a new job if their employer stopped offering remote work options. The survey also revealed that 68% of white-collar workers found that remote work has had a positive impact on their lives, and only 5% said it has negatively impacted them.

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