By the time Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stood before his team to announce a new return to-office policy, the conversation around remote work had already evolved from a health necessity into a cultural battleground. “This isn’t just about productivity metrics,” he said. “It’s about building the culture that will drive Uber’s next phase of growth.” At that moment, Khosrowshahi joined a growing list of top head of firms ncluding Amazon’s Andy Jassy, who argue that real company culture can only thrive when employees are physically present together.
But is that really true, Ever since the pandemic forced much of the world’s workforce into bedrooms and kitchen tables, businesses have wrestled with what they lost and what they gained. Now, years later, as the dust begins to settle, one big question still looms large: does remote work kill company culture?
To begin with, it is important to admit that culture is a slippery word. It’s not just what’s written in an employee handbook or posted on the walls of a conference room. It’s the unwritten rules. The small moments. The trust built in passing conversations. The shared laughter during a lunch break. It is the feeling people have about their company and each other and that, many believe, cannot be replicated on Zoom.
In fact, The Economist’s analysis suggests that whether remote work damages culture depends on the kind of culture a company is trying to build. For companies driven by collaboration, innovation, and serendipitous brainstorming the kind where ideas spark from overheard conversations and spontaneous interactions physical presence may play a crucial role. This is what Amazon’s Jassy meant when he said people “thrive on top of one another’s ideas better when they’re together.”
But what about companies that value flexibility, deep focus, and autonomy? For those, the traditional office might not be as essential. In fact, it could be a hindrance. Not every employee thrives under fluorescent lights and rigid schedules. Some produce their best work without the distraction of open-plan offices and unnecessary meetings. For them, working from home is not a cultural threat, it’s a cultural evolution.
Executives are right to care about culture. Research has consistently shown that it affects everything from employee satisfaction to profitability to innovation and long-term stock market performance. But building a strong culture does not always mean replicating the past. The companies that will thrive in the next decade will be the ones that understand culture is not about a physical location. It’s about shared values, trust, purpose, and connection and those things can be built in an office, through a screen, or somewhere in between.
Instead of forcing everyone back into cubicles in hopes of resurrecting a pre-2020 sense of normalcy, leaders should be asking themselves deeper questions. What kind of culture do we want to create? What values do we want to live by? How can we use technology to strengthen, not dilute, our relationships? How do we foster inclusion, trust, and belonging in a world where the workplace is no longer one fixed place?
In truth, working from home does not kill company culture. But it forces companies to confront what their culture really is. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing.