The former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, recently bashed Google for its work culture, especially its remote working system. Schmidt was speaking to students at Stanford University during a lecture in April, where he was asked about the lead of startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic on Google in the field of AI.
According to Schmidt, Google has lagged behind in the AI race because the company has prioritized work-life balance and flexible work arrangements. As Schmidt pointed out, these decisions have eroded Google’s competitive advantage in the field of AI, which is still a relatively new and dynamic domain.
Startup culture outpaces big tech in AI innovation
Although Google had a leading position in the development of AI and made a significant achievement in 2017, Schmidt pointed out that the company has been further surpassed by OpenAI and Anthropic.
“Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning,” Schmidt said. He noted that such companies as OpenAI, which has recently succeeded, operate hard, which Google does not do, according to him.
According to Schmidt, Google’s focus on work-life balance demotivated the employees. He mentioned that startups, which are known to expect a lot from their employees, are doing a better job than Google and other big companies in AI innovation. According to Schmidt, discipline and commitment in startups are very important in enhancing innovation and competition in the tech market.
“I am sorry to be so blunt, but the fact of the matter is when you all leave university and go found (start) a company, you’re not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week,” he added.
In response to the COVID-19 rules, Google adopted a flexible working model that requires employees to come to the office three days a week and work from home two days. Interestingly, the company’s 2022 Diversity Annual Report pointed out that attendance in the office is now a critical aspect of performance evaluations.
Industry leaders voice concerns over remote work trends
Other industry experts have echoed similar sentiments. For example, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, during an interview with The Economist in 2023, argued that remote working is not good for young employees and management teams. Dimon pointed out the challenges that remote work causes for apprenticeship and supervision. Likewise, in a CNBC interview, Elon Musk called remote work ‘unethical’ because some employees are expected to come to work while others work from home.
The Google parent company, Alphabet Inc., recorded revenue of $84.7 billion in the second quarter, which is in line with the market estimate of $84.2 billion. This result is 14% higher than the same period of the previous year.
