As you all know, forcing workers to return to the office is one of my hobby horses. I’ve written about it quite a few times. From what I can tell, it’s mostly a matter of CEOs talking to each other rather than their employees and exposure, in one way or another, to the downtown real estate market.
Soatok has a full blown rant on return to the offfice that makes my efforts look meager and forgiving. His rant is based on experience. He was hired as a remote-only employee working from home in Florida. He doesn’t identify the employer but my sense is that it was not local. After COVID, the company’s CEO unilaterally decided—apparently with no evidence supporting the notion that it was a good idea—that everyone should return to the office and that remote employees must relocate. It doesn’t take a business genius to realize what a bad idea that was.
In any event, Soatok played along until he found a new employer and reports that a majority of the best engineers did likewise. The comments to the reddit post are also revealing. Several of them recounted similar experiences and most of them expressed support for Soatok’s opinion. A few made the obvious observation that some people prefer working in the office and should be allowed to do so.
The best comment, in my opinion, told the story of the commenter’s experience. When his company’s CEO demanded everyone return to the office the employees revolted. When the company actually talked to the employees, it turned out that the main concern was paying for child care. The company instituted a policy of subsidizing childcare and everyone walked away happy. Often it’s just that simple: talk to the people your policy is going to affect.