Blackstone co-founder and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman has said remote workers do not “work as hard regardless of what they tell you”.
Speaking in Saudi Arabia, the billionaire said it is hard to bring workers back into the office, claiming remote workers can save on commuting and meals while enjoying lighter workloads.
The private equity giant’s investment team works in the office five days a week.
Schwarzman also said the prevalence of remote working was likely to result in more vacant office buildings.
“You’re looking at office buildings that basically are 40% unused. So I expect when those leases roll-off, the companies will cut back the amount of space,” Schwarzman said.
He outlined concerns that this would mean “those office buildings are not survivable… as economic entities”.
