Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has weighed in on the ongoing debate between remote and office work by advising young professionals to prefer working from the office if they are serious about advancing their careers. Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Schmidt reflected on his early career and emphasized the importance of personal interactions for learning and professional development.

Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2011, shared that most of his learning came from informal office moments — conversations near the water cooler, attending meetings and interacting with coworkers in the hallways.

“When I was a young executive, I had no idea what I was doing,” he admitted and revealed that being in an office environment helped him understand things and connect with the right people. According to Schmidt, young professionals should take a similar path, as these experiences are critical to career advancement.

“If you’re 20, you want to be in an office because that’s how you’ll get promoted,” he advised.

Schmidt’s comments match recent studies that suggest a connection between office attendance and career progression. A report cited by The Wall Street Journal indicates that fully remote employees are 31 percent less likely to be promoted than those working from the office or in hybrid roles.

While Schmidt acknowledged that some remote work setups have increased productivity, he personally believes that being physically present in the office is more beneficial for professional growth. His comments come at a time when several major companies, including Amazon and JPMorgan, have tightened their return-to-office policies, sometimes forcing them to hold performance reviews.

Schmidt’s opinion echoes similar sentiments expressed by other tech leaders. For example, Meta now requires employees to be in the office at least three days a week, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying that engineers who work in the office are more productive than those who work from home. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also expressed concern about the long-term impact of fully remote work, calling it one of the tech industry’s biggest “mistakes”.

Google reportedly follows a hybrid work model that requires employees to work from the office three days a week from 2022. Attendance has been linked to performance reviews, and the good thing is that the company has not followed Amazon’s approach of mandating five days of office work.