- L'Oreal's CEO is firmly against remote work because it's "bad" for employees' mental health.
- Speaking at the World Economic Forum, he said remote workers lack attachment, passion, and creativity.
- The company was one of the first big corporations to issue return to office mandates after the 2020 lockdown.
L'Oreal's CEO had some harsh words for remote workers, saying they lack attachment, passion, or creativity in their roles, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
As per British outlet the Daily Telegraph, Nicolas Hieronimus — a French businessman who took the helm of the cosmetics giant in 2021 — said that being in the office was essential for the company and its employees because it brings people together.
"I know so many employees of so many other companies than L'Oreal that have been working from home for months, that have absolutely no attachment, no passion, no creativity," Hieronimus said on the sidelines of the WEF.
"One of the reasons that we hit the ground running after COVID is that we did not do like many tech companies and say everybody works from home all the time, and now they say: 'Oh my God, that was a mistake, please come back.'"
L'Oreal requires employees to be in the office at least three days a week currently and was one of the first companies to issue return-to-office mandates after the lockdown in 2020.
L'Oreal USA's former CEO Stephane Rinderknech called the company's 11,000 employees back to the office in a staggered process in July 2020. He said in a memo: "The life of this company is based on the sensorial enrichment of experiencing beauty in person."
He added: "The world of beauty is not a remote or virtual one."
The company faced backlash from employees for the mandate with one worker in California saying: "They keep repeating how positive people are reacting and it's bullshit because no one wants to go back…It's pure gaslighting."
However, Hieronimus said at the WEF that it's "vital to be in the office" for serendipity and having the chance to meet 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," he said.
"It's vital for the company, and it's vital for the employees. It's also fair to the blue collar workers that work every day in the factory."
CEOs have changed their tune on remote work since the pandemic saying that employees are more productive and efficient in the office.
Numerous firms including Google, Meta, Starbucks, and JPMorgan have walked back their remote working policies as a result, and are requiring workers to come back to the office.
There's research to back up some of the claims made by CEOs. One 2023 study of 200 data entry workers in Chennai, India by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than their in-office counterparts.