Why Dropbox is sticking with remote work, according to its new co-CEO

Dropbox is "virtual-first" and that's not changing anytime soon, according to its caller co-CEO.

While galore companies proceed to enforce return-to-office mandates, Ashraf Alkarmi said that erstwhile he takes complete arsenic Dropbox's sole CEO, he plans to support the company's remote-first structure.

Alkarmi antecedently held activity roles astatine Vimeo and Meta and joined Dropbox arsenic elder vice president and wide head of its halfway products successful 2024. He became co-CEO successful May, alongside Dropbox laminitis Drew Houston.

Alkarmi said the unreality retention company's virtual-first building is an "incredible model" and he continues to judge successful it. Dropbox officially implemented the argumentation successful 2021 and said it redesigned its workforce to attraction connected flexibility.

"Flexibility and autonomy are the eventual rate successful modern work," Alkarmi told Business Insider.

The institution said that mean applications per occupation were nearly sevenfold higher successful 2025 than they were earlier virtual-first.

It besides said it has seen the highest connection acceptance rates and the lowest attrition rates since enacting the model. The institution added that 74% of caller hires successful 2026 mention the expertise to activity successful a virtual-first environment arsenic 1 of the reasons they joined Dropbox.

Alkarmi made the favoritism that virtual-first doesn't mean remote-only.

The institution still has in-person gatherings, specified arsenic for its yearly hack week, wherever workers alert successful to San Francisco, Seattle, and Dublin studios to participate successful a hackathon.

Employees create and build their hack week projects from Monday to Thursday, and winning projects are chosen connected Friday. Throughout the week, Dropboxers are encouraged to participate successful further programming, for illustration customer java chats, AI learning sessions, and networking.

The institution besides holds activity off-sites wherever elder unit meet to attraction connected institution planning, strategy, and squad building. Individual teams besides person their ain off-sites.

The operation of in-person relationship pinch virtual activity is critical, the co-CEO said.

"In these moments, relationship matters," Alkarmi said.

Alkarmi added that those gatherings thief the company's workforce build connections truthful that erstwhile they return to virtual work, they're connected the aforesaid page and person a instauration of spot and respect.

His co-CEO, Houston, has antecedently criticized return-to-office mandates.

"We tin beryllium a batch little dumb than forcing group backmost into a car 3 days a week aliases whatever, to virtually beryllium backmost connected the aforesaid Zoom gathering they would person been astatine home," Houston said connected the "Leadership Next" podcast successful 2025.