Ex–Google CEO Eric Schmidt cautions U.S. tech workers
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The former CEO of Google is sounding the alarm about the tech sector’s ability to compete with China, and he warns that working from home isn’t helping.
Key facts
China’s 996 work schedule was outlawed in 2021, but Schmidt insisted on the podcast all the Chinese tech companies still do it
A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on Sept. 25, 2025
An increasing number of startups, and especially AI startups, in the Bay Area now expect employees to put in 72-hour weeks, according to Wired
Schmidt, during the September interview, snuck a glance at David Sacks, the venture capitalist and now former White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, as he joked work-life balance
Summary
Eric Schmidt, who was top boss at Google for a decade in the early 2000s, said during a conference interview published by the All-In podcast in September 2025 that he doesn’t believe in remote work, partly because it’s not helping U.S. tech companies compete with China’s cutthroat work culture. “If you’re going to be in tech and you’re going to win, you’re going to have to make some tradeoffs,” Schmidt said. Schmidt added working from home is especially harmful for young people who may be highly educated but have little or no experience in the workforce. “How do you re-create that in this new thing?” he asked about remote work.