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Fortune
Fortune
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

Ex–Google CEO Eric Schmidt warns U.S. tech workers: Competing with China’s grueling 12-hour workdays means sacrificing work-life balance

(Credit: Eva Marie Uzcategui—Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The former CEO of Google is sounding the alarm about the tech sector’s ability to compete with China, and he warns that working from home isn’t helping.

Eric Schmidt, who was top boss at Google for a decade in the early 2000s, said during a conference interview published by the All-In podcast in September 2025 that he doesn’t believe in remote work, partly because it’s not helping U.S. tech companies compete with China’s cutthroat work culture.

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