In 2023, even the most carefully thought-out hybrid work plan can be undercut if bosses get \u201ctoo rigid with flexibility.\u201d Ajay Banga, vice chairman at growth equity investor General Atlantic, thinks that\u2019s the obvious snag in the new remote work era.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Banga, who was CEO of Mastercard<\/a> for 11 years and later the company\u2019s chairman, strongly believes in the power of in-person collaboration<\/a>, but says it can\u2019t come at the expense of giving people the freedom they need.<\/p>\n \u201cYou burn through a lot of social capital when you reduce everyone to little squares on a screen,\u201d Banga told Fortune\u2019s <\/em>Peter Vanham in an interview on Fortune Connect<\/a>, Fortune\u2019s<\/em> exclusive leadership community. But if working in person with a team isn\u2019t feasible, he adds, remote work is still \u201ca pretty productive way to get stuff done, as compared to flying to Timbuktu to meet someone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But it wouldn\u2019t be Banga\u2019s first choice, at least for workers new to a company. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to get to know people and [establish] networks that enable you to be more successful and productive,\u201d he said. \u201cHumans are social beings. And what makes us richer is the ability to touch, feel, interact, hug, and cry together, and be happy together and share successes and failures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On that point, Banga is one in a vast string of executives<\/a> to insist upon the importance of in-person work. But he\u2019s one of relatively few to wholeheartedly acknowledges the reverse<\/a>. \u201cClearly people are crying out for flexibility in their working lives right now,\u201d he added. \u201cThe ability to understand the need for that flexibility, but then to not flip over to, \u2018therefore let\u2019s just do it all digitally,\u2019 that to me is a balance.\u201d<\/p>\n Banga said failing to execute on that balance would lead to an unequal work environment for people who prefer to work remotely more often\u2014disproportionately caregivers, women, and people of color<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Banga\u2019s biggest concern is that scattered return to office plans will set back \u201cthe advances we\u2019ve made on reducing the inequality of opportunities for women.\u201d Mainly, that\u2019s because of proximity bias<\/a>, which describes the natural preference and familiarity with those you most often see around you. Sixty percent<\/a> of managers told Beautiful.AI<\/a> they\u2019d probably lay off remote workers first in a recession.\u00a0<\/p>\n Workers have taken note. Over half (58%) of women are concerned working remotely would limit their overall career advancement; 64% of men said the same, per a November 2022 Care.com report<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cProximity bias is real,\u201d Katherine Goldstein, host of motherhood podcast Double Shift, told Fortune <\/em>last year. \u201cPeople already judge mothers as being less committed to their work, so there is a sense that hybrid or remote work could really create an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality in terms of both promotions and also in terms of layoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n Plus, Goldstein added, absent personal connections with workers they don\u2019t see every day, bosses may have an easier time carrying out layoffs. Or, in a longer-term setting, doling out promotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the four people next to you in the office everyday are men, and the two women don\u2019t come in, when the time for a promotion comes, you\u2019ll naturally gravitate to one of the men,\u201d Banga said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He encourages what most experts do about sustainable hybrid work<\/a>: two or so designated office days, ideally organized so whole teams are there at once. There\u2019s little to gain<\/a> from mandating people to return to an office just to log onto Zooms all day\u2014especially because of how resentful<\/a> those employees would be about feeling forced to show.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Banga advocates for as much in-person collaboration as is feasible, he warned about \u201cgetting rigid with flexibility.\u201d Hybrid arrangements, with ample room for reorganizing around life events and complications, work for everyone because \u201cnot everything can be planned by your Roman calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nProximity bias can\u2019t be ignored<\/h2>\n