'We Can Be a Lot Less Dumb Than Forcing People Back': The CEO of Dropbox Rails Against Companies That Issue Strict Return to Office Mandates

Key Points

• Drew Houston slams strict return-to-office mandates by companies like Amazon, JPMorgan, X and Disney as an outdated approach that wastes employees’ time and money.
• He likens forcing people back to the office to dragging them back into malls and movie theaters, arguing “it’s just a different world now.”
• Dropbox’s 90/10 rule lets employees work remotely 90% of the year and come into the office only 10%, emphasizing productivity over presence.
• Houston champions a management style of trust over surveillance, saying workers value flexibility far more than office perks like snacks.

Companies like Amazon, JPMorgan, X and Disney are among those who've given return-to-office mandates to employees. And Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox, says they are living in the past.

"Forcing people back to the office is probably gonna be like trying to force people back into malls and movie theaters. Nothing wrong with the movie theater, but it's just a different world now," he said during an appearance on the Leadership Next podcast.

Related: Dropbox's CEO Explains Why the Company Adopted Jeff Bezos' 'Memo-First' Meeting Culture from Amazon

Houston voiced the frustrations of many employees who feel like they waste time, energy, and money when they commute to do the same thing that they do from their home office setups. "We can be a lot less dumb than forcing people back into a car three days a week or whatever, to literally be back on the same Zoom meeting they would have been at home," he said. "There's a better way to do this."

Dropbox follows a 90/10 rule, reports Business Insider. In this arrangement, employees work remotely 90% of the year and in person 10% of the year. Houston has said that his management style favors "trust over surveillance" and that when it comes to trying to make the office more appealing, management should understand that workers "value flexibility a lot more than snacks."

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