CEO of $8 billion Flexport blasts remote work as ‘white-collar fraud’ and a ‘total fantasy’ for highly paid employees

Summary

The CEO of an $8 billion logistics company that thrived during the pandemic is reviving the debate about remote work with a controversial take that has some calling him out online. Ryan Petersen, the founder and CEO of Flexport, said on the Twenty Minute VC podcast this week that remote work is “white collar fraud,” partly because it can lead employees to become distracted at home, especially those who have children. “I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old. The idea that I could do any work at my house is like a total fantasy,” he said. “Like, come on. You’re kidding.” Petersen added these distractions may be even worse for people who have less space at home than he does. “I have a bigger house than most employees do. Like, I actually do have a private office I can close the door on. It doesn’t matter. Like, there’s no work getting done at that house when the children are around,” he added. The argument about remote work has divided the C-suite between CEOs who see it as an equalizer in the labor market that allows them to hire the best talent, and those who say it hurts company culture and productivity. His company reinstated a five day in-office policy at the beginning of 2025. You’re going to make people who make your food that gets delivered—they can’t work from home?” Musk asked in an interview with CNBC in 2023. “Does that seem morally right?” Still, other CEOs and business leaders have repeatedly advocated for remote work, including Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary , who said earlier this year that limiting a company’s hiring to only in-person employees leads to them missing out on the best talent. “If you’re trying to say to people, ‘Oh, you got to work in an office,’ and that’s the talent you want to hire, you’ll just get the bottom quartile people that have no choice,” he said.