Steve Schwarzman of the Blackstone group said staff want to work from home so they can save money
The boss of the world’s biggest commercial landlord has accused remote workers of staying away from the office because it means they “don’t work as hard” and can save money.
Steve Schwarzman, the chief executive of investment firm the Blackstone group, made the claims about hybrid staff while speaking on a panel at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In remarks first reported by Bloomberg, he said employees had kept working from home because “they didn’t work as hard, regardless of what they tell you” and also due to the savings they make on their daily commute, lunches and work attire.
Yeah, but notice that his whole point was about “working hard” which is not at all the same as “being productive” and about employees “saving money”, which something that’s not up to an employer to decide on.
It’s not at all about the kind of metrics a competent manager would be worrying about.
And, when you notice that he’s one of the biggest commercial landlords, you realize that by “employees working hard,” he means “employees sitting in offices I’ve rented out and thus making companies give me money.”
The more companies that allow employees to work from home, the less his properties are worth. You might as well ask Exxon-Mobil whether electric cars are good or not. Or ask a political candidate whether you should vote for their opponent or not.