Home workers lack passion and creativity, says L’oreal boss

Head of world’s largest cosmetics firm warns it is ‘vital’ for profits that staff come back into the office

PERSISTENT home workers have “absolutely no attachment, passion or creativity”, the head of L’oréal has said amid a scramble to get staff back to the office.

Nicolas Hieronimus, who joined the world’s largest cosmetics firm more than three decades ago, said that it was “vital” for creativity and company profits for employees to return to the office.

Mr Hieronimus, who became chief executive in 2021, said: “I know so many employees of so many other companies than L’oréal that have been working from home for months, that have absolutely no attachment, no passion, no creativity.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, he added: “One of the reasons that we hit the ground running after Covid is that we did not do like many tech companies and say everybody works from home all the time and now they say: ‘Oh, my God, that was a mistake, please come back’.”

L’oréal requires employees to be in the office at least three days a week, but many companies are struggling to reverse the drift away. The law firm

Slaughter and May has started tracking when staff enter its London headquarters in an effort to clamp down on those who are trying to evade in-office requirements.

Meanwhile, at The Guardian, concerns have been raised over what a forced return to the office would mean for employees’ work-life balance.

The newspaper brought in a new policy this month requiring staff to come into the office for a minimum of three days a week after many failed to return following the pandemic.

The National Union of Journalists pointed to the risk that this policy could mean some staff have less time to spend with their pets.

Banks have similarly introduced mandates to try to force workers back into the office.

In August HSBC told its UK employees to be back at their desks for more than half of the week.

Lloyds Banking Group, JP Morgan, Investec and Blackrock have also demanded workers be in the office more frequently.

Mr Hieronimus said there were clear benefits of working closely with colleagues, adding that he was trying to get more staff to work in the office on Friday instead of Wednesday.

He said: “I think it’s vital to be in the office. It’s about serendipity. It’s about meeting people.

“And it’s also more fair to workers because we have lots of young people who have small houses or have young kids and working from home is actually very bad for their mental health.”