Disney CEO Bob Iger has ordered all employees to work at least four days a week in the company’s offices two months after returning to the helm of the company.
In an email Monday, Iger said the new rule would take effect March 1 and stressed the importance of in-person collaboration, CNBC reported, citing a copy of the memo.
“As I have met with teams across the company over the past few months, I have been reminded of the tremendous value of being with the people you work with,” Iger reportedly wrote.
“And in a creative company like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect with like-minded people, to observe and be creative that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally through learning from leaders and mentors learns,” he added.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has ordered all employees to work at least four days a week in the company’s offices starting March 1
In November, Iger returned to run Disney, replacing his own handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, after the company reported lackluster financial results and suffered embarrassing PR embarrassment over its fights with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Iger was tasked with renewing the company’s growth over a two-year period, and his surprise comeback has coincided with Disney’s efforts to boost investor confidence and profits on its Disney+ streaming service.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which most office workers worked entirely from home for an extended period, companies have grappled with establishing new work-from-home policies.
Disney’s four-day work-in-office mandate is relatively strict compared to other large companies, most of which require employees to be in the office two or three days a week.
Both Google parent Alphabet and Apple introduced three-day office work requirements last year.
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is urging employees to spend at least half their time in the office, although any employee who is able to work from home can obtain approval to work remotely full-time .
Disney Imagineers can be seen at work in a company photo. Company employees must return to company offices at least four days a week beginning March 1
Disney’s stock price has fallen about 40 percent over the past 12 months. The company is currently valued at approximately $173 billion
New Twitter owner Elon Musk has set the strictest rules, requiring all employees to work full-time in the office after laying off more than half of the company’s workforce.
A Gallup poll last summer found that 22 percent of employees able to work remotely were on-site full-time.
49 percent worked in a hybrid arrangement that mixed remote and in-office work, and 29 percent were completely remote, the survey found.
Since returning to Disney in November, Iger has been tasked by the board to return revenue to growth and turn Disney+ into profitability.
The streaming business lost nearly $1.5 billion last quarter, more than double the year-ago figure, and overshadowed subscriber gains.
The streaming unit hasn’t turned a profit since its launch in 2019, and Disney has announced that Disney+ will become profitable in fiscal 2024.
Disney’s stock price has fallen about 40 percent over the past 12 months. The company is currently valued at approximately $173 billion.
The Reedy Creek District is governed by its 19 landowners, the largest of which is Disney World. Disney’s majority landowner status means that it elects district board members
DeSantis initiated an overhaul of Disney’s self-governing status within Reedy Creek after the company’s former CEO publicly criticized Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law
Iger, 71, who was chief executive for 15 years and retired as chairman in 2021, has agreed to serve as CEO for two more years.
Upon his return, he also inherited the messy Kulturkampf that his predecessor, Chapek, got into with DeSantis.
Chapek was reportedly scolded by the board for Disney’s muddled response to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. The company initially did not comment on the bill, but under pressure from employees, Chapek eventually condemned it.
In response, DeSantis has advanced plans to strip Disney World of its self-governing status.
The overhaul would also force the company to pay $700 million in unsecured debt that taxpayers might otherwise have paid.
Last week, a statement on Osceola County’s website said legislation would be introduced to create a state-controlled board for Reedy Creek, the district that includes Disney World.