Airbnb CEO and RISD Grad Chesky Says Working in Office "Thing of the Past"

Airbnb CEO and RISD Grad Chesky Says Working in Office "Thing of the Past"

RISD grad and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is making big news about the future of work. Last week he announced that employees of the company could work from home - forever.

And on Sunday, it was reported he is now prophesizing the end of the office work environment.

"My prediction is three days a week becomes two days a week, and two days a week becomes one day a week, and pretty soon are you really in a hybrid world, or are you mostly a remote world?" he said. "People don't realize this two, three days a week thing is not super sustainable. People are going to realize, 'OK, let's be more intentional about when people gather. And let's gather for a week or two at a time.'"

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"I think that the office as we know it, is over," he told Time. "We can't try to hold on to 2019 any more than 1950. We have to move forward."

Chesky was cited by Business Insider as saying, "If the office didn't exist, I like to ask, would we invent it? And if we invented it, what would it be invented for? Obviously, people are going to still go to hospitals and work, people are going to still go to coffee shops and work — those spaces make complete sense. But I think that for somebody whose job is on a laptop, the question is, well, what is an office meant to do?"

"Airbnb told its 6,000 employees on Thursday that they would have the option to permanently work remotely, joining a growing number of companies that have ditched return-to-office plans, including Zillow and PwC. Airbnb also told its U.S. employees that they could move to anywhere in the country without a reduction to their compensation," reported the New York Times.