Martha Stewart says America will ‘go down the drain’ if employees continue to work remotely

Martha Stewart has shared her candid thoughts about remote work.

The 81-year-old media mogul came out against businesses allowing their employees to work remotely in an interview with Footwear News published on Monday (5 June). While describing her packed daily schedule, Stewart revealed that she didn’t stop working during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I continued to work five days a week,” she said. As companies have slowly introduced return-to-office measures, with some allowing employees to opt for a hybrid work schedule, Stewart has taken a stance against remote work.

“You can’t possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely,” she told the publication. The Martha Stewart Living founder noted how many French companies allow most of their employees to take summer holiday between July or August, with some French workers receiving 30 days a year of paid vacation.

“Look at the success of France with their stupid…you know, off for August, blah blah blah,” Stewart said. “That’s not a very thriving country. Should America go down the drain because people don’t want to go back to work?”

Since 2020, many workspace environments have shifted from in-person offices to allowing employees to work from anywhere remotely. Other companies have requested that their employees switch to a hybrid schedule, in which they work from home some days during the week and from the office other days of the week.

Martha Stewart previously opened up about working during Covid-19 pandemic in a 2021 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, where she revealed that she had 30 employees on-site at her farm in Bedford, New York. Speaking to the magazine, the lifestyle guru believed that business owners should be able to call their employees “anytime, even on weekends,” she said.

Stewart went on to share how she called a new employee on a Sunday, but he told her he couldn’t talk because he was taking a bath. “I knew I couldn’t work with that person. I just couldn’t,” she said. “If you can’t talk on a Sunday and you take umbrage that I’m calling you on a Sunday – you know, if you are a terribly religious person, I take that into consideration. But I knew this guy was not a terribly religious person.”

“It’s exciting! Business is exciting,” she added. “I want people to feel that way about business.”

As Covid-19 restrictions ease, many companies have since called on their employees to return to the office full or part-time. In April, JPMorgan Chase said it will be ending its hybrid work policy for senior staff, while Amazon said in February that it will require corporate employees to spend at least three days per week in the office beginning on the first of May.

Most recently, a professor sparked backlash amongst Gen Z and Millennials for saying that young people “should never be home” if they want to be successful.

The Independent has contacted Martha Stewart for comment.