Are remote-first companies setting up young employees to fail?

I asked 100 CEOs this exact question for you...

Here are the top responses.

Steven Bartlett - Founder of FlightStory, Thirdweb, The Diary Of A CEO & Investor.

In 2025, there has been a shocking decline in communal institutions: church membership has fallen below 50% for the first time, we go to the pub less, community centres have vanished, and active involvement in community organisations has dropped by nearly half since the late 20th century.

Yet, our deep Maslovian need for connection remains unchanged. This is just one reason why I’m a big believer in in-person teams - and why I actually see it as offering an in-person culture as a hiring advantage for the right candidates.

Later in life, you build up your own community, your own family. But early in life - especially if you’ve moved to a big city, you’re on an entry-level salary that makes socialising expensive, you don’t yet have friends, and you’re part of the TikTok doom-scrolling generation - work can offer you so much more than just a job. If I were at the start of my career today, there’s no way I’d choose a fully remote job. I’d be looking for real relationships, people skills, mentors and community.

This isn’t to say flexibility and autonomy don’t matter - they absolutely do. But we’re in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, where 79% of Gen Z say they feel lonely. We can’t kid ourselves into thinking that human beings don’t gain immense value from being physically around each other.

Mark Bailie - CEO of Compare the Market.

“Trust isn’t built on a video conference. Remote first organisations offer a lot, but the price is hidden, and large, especially at the start of your career.

I think of careers like a game of snakes and ladders - with a whole lot more ladders than snakes. The secret nobody tells you at the start, is that some of those ladders are actually escalators. The few escalator moments that have happened in my career, have arisen from building relationships [through] face-to-face interactions.

Working remotely can form a transactional environment too focused on completing the [task] without seeing how it fits into the [company's] wider objectives. BUT as you grow, success becomes more about collaboration, spotting potential, and understanding the people you work with. Most of my career highlights weren’t in my diary.”

Codie Sanchez - Investor, NYT bestselling author, and founder of Contrarian Thinking.

“WFH is one of our greatest disservices to a new generation of adults. Young people miss out on the osmosis that happens when you're physically around successful people, building something together.

The most valuable career opportunities just don't happen on Zoom. You don't want work-life balance. You want work that is fun and hard. Nothing is more fun than late nights spent building with people smarter than you.”

Daniel Priestley - founder of Dent Global.

“If you are established in your career and life, working from home is a blessing. You can continue your career and network momentum without the daily commute or stale office environment. There are very [few] downsides for people who were already over 40 when the pandemic happened in 2020.

Sadly, for younger workers, this is a disaster. The ability to shadow a more senior professional in a meeting, to have an unscheduled coffee chat or to casually eavesdrop on a client call is the magic that the office environment provides.

For younger workers, I would recommend doing whatever possible to spend time in the shadow of senior people in your industry - even if it means the dreaded commute.”

Nicola Kilner - Co-founder and CEO of DECIEM, the beauty trailblazer behind The Ordinary.

“We are approaching a revolution in the workplace as AI will begin to take on many jobs previously done by humans. (...) It's important we develop skills that complement the gaps that AI will have.

People skills are a huge part of this - our relationships, our network, and our emotional intelligence. These develop much stronger in person than at home, so I believe it's important that there is a strong balance, particularly at the start of our careers.”