(FreedomBeacon.com)- Bob Iger, who re-took over as CEO of Disney back in November, announced this week that all company employees will have to return to work in the office for at least four days every week.
An email that Iger sent to the entire company was obtained by CNBC recently. In it, he wrote:
“As I’ve been meeting with teams throughout the company over the past few months, I’ve been reminded of the tremendous value in being together with the people you work with. As you’ve heard me say many times, creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney.
“And in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, share and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.”
Iger just recently stepped back into the role of CEO in November. He originally served in that position from 2005 through 2020, and then stepped aside to serve as executive chairman of the board. He retired in December of 2021.
But, this past November, Disney called upon Iger to return, after CEO Bob Chapek resigned from his post following a few years of controversy. Chapek had gotten Disney involved in some political fights in Florida with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over the “don’t say gay” bill.
Chapek threw the company into that political discussion by saying they were against the bill. That brought a lot of negative attention on the company, and DeSantis even threatened to remove their self-governing status in the state.
When Iger stepped in, he immediately said that he wants Disney to remain out of politics. Now, he’s taking aim at something else that became commonplace at the company under Chapek — allowing employees to work from home full time, even after the worst days of the pandemic were over.
Disney isn’t the only company that’s taking this stance.
Last June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that all of his employees had to return to work in the office for 40 hours per week at least. If they didn’t agree to that mandate, they would be let go of their duties.
That information came from a company-wide email that Musk sent to employees, which was leaked to the press. In the email, he wrote:
“Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers.”
He explained the reasoning for this policy, writing:
“Tesla has and will create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products of any company on Earth. This will not happen by phoning it in.”
Some Big Tech companies have gone the other way, allowing employees to work from home permanently if they so choose. But, major companies like Tesla and Disney — which rely a lot on creativity and collaboration — don’t think that’s a good idea for them.
