Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is trying a unique strategy to get remote workers to return downtown: insulting them.
“I don’t know if you saw this study the other day,” Frey told an audience of 1,000 at Minneapolis Downtown Council’s annual meeting on Wednesday. “What this study clearly showed … is that when people who have the ability to come downtown to an office don’t — when they stay home sitting on their couch, with their nasty cat blanket, diddling on their laptop — if they do that for a few months, you become a loser!”
The comment was a “complete joke” and the study was made-up, the Minneapolis mayor’s office told Fortune, but there are serious facts to back up Frey’s worry about the impact of remote work on Minneapolis’ downtown economy.
While still a stupid thing to say, I am concerned that this quote was mildly taken out of context. It was made at a business luncheon, where he was addressing downtown business owners. I believe “you” in “you become a loser” meant “if people work from home, you downtown business owners become the losers here.” But yeah, “nasty cat blanket” is a classist and elitist statement from someone who has a stereotype image in their head.
Link to that part of the speech, sorry it’s from a FOX affiliate.
https://www.fox9.com/news/minneapolis-mayor-says-remote-work-turns-you-into-a-loser.amp