Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on Working From Home: ‘I Don’t See Any Positives’

Many people have found working from home has been one of the few silver linings stemming from the coronavirus pandemic — but Netflix chief Reed Hastings isn’t one of them.

Hastings, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday, was asked if he’s seen any benefits from having employees working from home.

“No. I don’t see any positives,” Hastings said. “Not being able to get together in person, particularly internationally, is a pure negative. I’ve been super impressed at people’s sacrifices.”

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Netflix in March closed its Hollywood office after an employee was believed to be positive for COVID-19. The Bay Area-based company joined a number of other tech giants, including Facebook and Twitter, in having employees work from home to combat the virus’s spread.

Hastings said having most employees away from the office has been a challenge because it’s made “debating ideas” harder to do. He doesn’t anticipate Netflix will lean into a full work-from-home setup if/when a vaccine is developed, either. Instead, he told the WSJ he anticipates many companies will have employees in the office four days a week and let them work from home once a week.

And how long after a vaccine does Hastings want to have employees return to the office on a regular basis?

“Twelve hours after a vaccine is approved,” he said.

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