Omar Zenhom argues CEOs push return-to-office policies not for control, but because remote work slows decision-making and weakens collaboration as companies scale. Facebook and Google's office mandates reflect an effort to restore the organizational momentum that drives growth.
I know workers might think that if you ask them to come into an office, they're going to say they just want to control us. They don't trust us. It's about ego. And I'm here to say no, it's actually about momentum. Business doesn't die because people aren't working or doing the tasks they're supposed to be doing. They die because decisions take too long. Collaboration weakens. Energy starts to flatten. Creativity doesn't flourish. As you grow apart in a remote setting. And the honest truth is that when everybody is in a physical space, an office, it increases speed. Listen, these Fortune 500 companies, the Facebooks of the world, the Googles of the world, they're not stupid. They're responding to the incentives that require them to go back into the office. And when growth starts to slow, they're going to remove the friction that's slowing down growth. And sometimes that means more in-person time.
