IS SLEEPING AT THE OFFICE MAKING COMEBACK OR FINDING PUSHBACK?
Twitter’s return to office took a hardcore turn right after Elon Musk’s takeover: One employee tweeted “#SleepWhereYouWork” after a photo of her in a sleeping bag and wearing an eye mask went viral early last month.
Musk this fall sent an email to Twitter staff asking that people commit to “long hours” at a “high intensity” and be “extremely hardcore” if they wanted to continue working there.
The focus on face time in the office and self-sacrifice for work is a reversal from Silicon Valley work culture, which was the first to adopt permanent remote work and tout options such as fourday workweeks. And experts say the change in course could mean more stress, burnout and even an existential crisis for workers.
“[It’s the idea] that work isn’t just work,” said Carolyn Chen, author of “Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley.” “Work is your reason for living, and work gives you meaning, purpose and identity. It’s your source of belonging.”
Putting work above all played a big role in the bro culture of the region, giving workers a way to prove they’re tough, Chen said.
In recent years, hustle culture’s celebration of the grind has gotten a bad rap. But Silicon Valley is where many of those tropes began. Companies have a long history of celebrating the allnight coding session or weekends at the office as the key to unlocking a killer startup idea, a new feature, or closing a deal.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs pushed this work style, as did former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, believing that the environment breeds innovation. Before Twitter, Musk had Tesla workers pulling grueling 12hour shifts to meet production deadlines.
Tech campus perks such as free food and foosball were meant to make never leaving the office seem like a no-brainer. In some ways, the perks helped workers have more work-life balance, as they were able to do laundry or work at the office. But it also kept them chained to the office.
Millennial workers, sick of girlbossing and tech-broing, pushed back against some of these trends. Now, several tech leaders are once again trumpeting support for the ideology.
Sleeping in the office often was viewed as a badge of honor at Silicon Valley workplaces. Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes often publicly referenced her sleeping habits — boasting that she could work long days on only four hours of sleep.
Companies such as Google and Uber made room for workers to nap by installing sleep pods at their offices. They hoped giving workers a place to rest would boost productivity.
Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management, is the employee who retweeted a photo one of her colleagues took showing her asleep in a sleeping bag on the office floor. “When your team is pushing round-the-clock to make deadlines sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork,” she wrote.
Some suggest there’s no such thing as finding the perfect balance between one’s personal and professional life.
In recent years, tech companies appeared to pull away from promoting that culture, instead flaunting perks such as allowing people to work from anywhere, introducing four-day workweeks, and investing in mental health initiatives. During the pandemic, many companies put an emphasis on health and wellness and promoted work-life balance to reduce burnout.