Opinion
Guest Essay

Packed Cubicles, Empty Corner Office: Remote Work Is Increasingly a Right of the Rich

Dec. 20, 2024


Maisie Cowell

By Rachel Greenley

Ms. Greenley is a former tech executive currently working on an essay collection.

When it comes to remote work, the C-suite wants workers to do as they say, not as they do. ... Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce, once said, “I don’t work well in an office.” Which makes one wonder where he was when Salesforce’s employees were ordered to return to the office three or more days a week. Perhaps he was sequestered at his 600-acre ranch in the genteel upcountry of Hawaii’s Waimea district. Or maybe at his oceanfront estate, just down the hill.

In late October, Starbucks — under its newly minted leader, Brian Niccol — warned the coffee company’s corporate employees that they must also return to the office three days a week by January. Yet Mr. Niccol continues to make his primary home in sunny Newport Beach, Calif. Starbucks has provided him with dedicated office space, a local personal assistant and a corporate jet ready to fly him the 1,000 miles to and from the company’s world headquarters in Seattle. A company representative told CNBC that Mr. Niccol will be held to the same three days a week standard.

When the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world in 2020, many of America’s office workers were suddenly able to work from home, introducing previously unimagined flexibility. They could move to more affordable locales, apply for jobs regardless of location and balance the demands of work and family. This privileged perk, however, opened a divide, as many essential workers still had to report to their stations.

Now growing numbers of the white-collar class are under increasing pressure to return, while many corner offices sit empty. The ability to work from home was always economically stratified. Now it is often being reserved for the wealthiest among us.

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