Bob Iger poses with Mickey Mouse at Mickey’s 90th Spectacular at the Shrine Auditorium on October 6, 2018 in Los Angeles.
Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images
According to an email obtained by CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger said Monday that hybrid employees must return to the company’s offices four days a week starting March 1.
In the email, Iger emphasized the importance of personal collaboration.
“As I have met with teams across the organization over the past few months, I have been reminded of the tremendous value of being with the people you work with,” Iger wrote. “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, observe and create that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.”
During the pandemic, many companies have opted for work-from-home or hybrid working models, minimizing large crowds and thus the spread of Covid. As vaccination rates rose and cases and hospitalizations fell, companies like Disney sought to bring employees back into offices and return to a more normalized pre-pandemic work environment.
Iger’s four-day-a-week requirement is relatively strict compared to other large companies, which have opted for two or three mandatory office days for hybrid employees. Apple has instructed employees to return to work three days a week in September. Twitter owner Elon Musk, who is known to have slept at his company’s premises as a sign of his commitment, in November ordered nearly all Twitter employees to return to the office five days a week.
Disney’s new policy comes less than two months after he returned to the helm of the company, promising a two-year tenure that would see the company grow again and develop a successor to take his place.
Iger’s return in November came days after former CEO Bob Chapek announced plans to cut costs at the company, which had been weighed down by the rising costs of its Disney+ streaming service. Iger’s return also comes as legacy media companies grapple with a rapidly changing landscape as advertising dollars dry up and consumers increasingly ditch their cable subscriptions in favor of streaming.
Iger plans to reorganize Disney’s Media & Entertainment Distribution division, which oversees the company’s content and distribution. He has maintained a hiring freeze introduced by Chapek while changing the company’s organizational structure to return budgetary powers to those who select creative projects.
Disney shares are down about 40% over the past year. The company has a market valuation of approximately $174 billion.
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