“If you want to win, you have to make sacrifices”

Eric Schmidt, who led Google for a decade in the early 2000s, has returned to The load against teleworking. In an interview in The podcast All-inthe veteran executive stressed the requirement to compete against China if workers in the US maintain flexible work policies and conciliation. His argument is based on the tendency of many Chinese companies, which are governed under The 996 system (Days from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, six days a week). This practice was declared illegal in the Asian country in 2021, although Schmidt says that “everyone continues to do so.”

Against teleworking. Schmidt holds That working from home is especially harmful to young professionals, however qualified they are. According to his experience in Sun Microsystems, where he became director of Technology, much of his learning simply came from being present in the office and listening to discussions among more experienced classmates. “How is that recreated in this new model?” He wondered in reference to remote work.

For Schmidt, winning in the technological sector requires “making sacrifices”, and teleworking does not fit that equation. “If you are going to be in technology and want to win, you will have to make concessions,” he said.

It is not the first time that charges against Google. The manager had previously criticized his former company for his labor flexibility policies. At a conference at Stanford last year He affirmed that “Google decided that conciliation, get out of work soon and work from home was more important than winning”, adding that “the reason why the Startups They work is because people work as convicted. ”

Although he subsequently retracted those statements, since a spokesman indicated that “he had expressed himself badly and regrets his mistake,” it is clear that his recent comments show that he maintains his background position. The University even eliminated the video from YouTube after it went viral.

The reality of 996 crosses the Pacific. Although China officially prohibited 996 days, Schmidt insists that all Chinese technology companies continue to apply them. And this obsession with work It is also arriving at Silicon Valley. According to several US media, more and more Startupsespecially those focused on artificial intelligence, they expect their employees work 72 hours per week.

Google too He turned back. After implementing work policies from home during the pandemic, Google has reversed the trend, as well as many other technological companies, and now requires some remote employees Go to the office three days a week. Even Sergey Brin, co -founder of the company, Indian To the teams that work in Gemini that are in the office “at least” every working day, suggesting that 60 hours per week represent “the optimal point of productivity”, according to reported The New York Times.

China’s work culture. Beyond the debate about work hours, the former director express His concern for the different priorities between both powers in artificial intelligence. While many US companies are obsessed with achieving general artificial intelligence (AGI), China focuses on developing AI for everyday usesuch as practical applications and robots. Schmidt attributes this difference to the hardware limitations of the Asian country and its capital markets, but considers that this more pragmatic strategy should be ‘reason for concern for the United States’.

Cover image | All-in podcast

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