Malcolm Gladwell Railed Against Working From Home and People Are Not Happy About It: ‘Imagine Reducing Your Life to a Job’

Natalie KorachAug 7th, 2022, 8:33 pm
 
Malcolm Gladwell Railed Against Working From Home and People Are Not Happy About it

Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Author Malcolm Gladwell made an appearance on the Diary of a CEO Podcast where he told host Steven Bartlett that remote work is hurting Americans, a statement that was not received well across social media.

Gladwell argued that the drastic shift to working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic is ruining the work environment, saying, “It’s very hard to feel necessary when you’re physically disconnected.”

The author called out those “sitting in their pajamas” while working from home, asking “what have you reduced your life to?”

“It’s not in your best interest to work at home,” he continued. “I know it’s a hassle to come into the office, but if you’re just sitting in your pajamas in your bedroom, is that the work-life you want to live?”

“If we don’t feel like we’re part of something important, what’s the point?” he concluded.

Ironically, in 2010 Gladwell published a piece in the Wall Street Journal that was entirely about working remotely from coffee shops. “As someone who writes in coffee shops for a living,” he wrote, “I have wrestled with this paradox for much of my adult life.”

Twitter did not take Gladwell’s comments kindly, with many users pointing out the individual benefits of working from home or going after Gladwell for his apparent hypocrisy.

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