Bingo. People who lead companies are not wired like the rest of us. It's not some bullshit about mission or impact. Executives are there for power. Power is the sweat under a subordinate's arms when you address them. Power is having control over the bodies of others when you tell them where to be, how long to be there, where to sit and how to dress. Power is having roomfuls of people in rapt attention to you. Power is giving orders and making decisions, then watching them be physically carried out. Power is getting sex from your subordinates. Power is seeing the people who have subordinated themselves to you and their daily performance of that subordination.

Even if moon robots could do all our work for us, some people would find a way to make the rest of us submit. Nothing can replace physical proximity. Without it, you feel like a loser in your bathrobe instead of master of your universe.

Don't believe the bullshit about WFH and automation fueled idle. It's counter to human nature. We organize our workplaces, education system and society not for maximum efficiency but to satisfy the primate hierarchical social instinct.

I have worked in tech a while, including knowing a number of executives (prior and post them being executives), and I don't know a single one who is 'in it for the power' and feeling good because they can tell employees where to sit and how to dress (or getting sex from subordinates!).

They're in it because they love making big impacts, having authority to make _big_ decisions, not watching people sit down in chairs.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I am worried about where you work. What you are describing is not normal.

You are lucky! I was lucky for awhile, until I wasn't.

Ignorance is bliss

I don't think what you are describing is a normal work environment. I have experienced something similar though - and it sounds like you work with sociopaths.

If that's the case, the classic advice is to disengage and find another job as soon as possible. Staying will not be healthy for your mind. Good luck.

I'm out of there now and working with a much better team. Unfortunately positions of power magneticly attract sociopaths, so it's not an uncommon situation, especially as the companies get larger. I've found the best measure of an organization's empathy is the owner or CEO themselves.

I agree. And as an introvert, working from home has actually made work more fun. I never liked sitting in a room with other people, nor did I like going out for lunch with my colleagues or having to do small talk face to face. I hated having to walk up to colleagues that I didn't know, just to ask them a few questions.

All these things are completely gone when working from home. I can focus on my work, get the job done and have my personal life back. Once I finish work at 6 (often earlier these days), I got the entire evening to myself. I already managed to go to the gym during lunch time, or did some groceries during the day.

What do you think an extrovert might say? They might miss the face to face interaction, the spontaneous discussions that may happen over lunch, or the gathering between colleagues that might happen over a weekend.

I respect that those may not appeal to you, and they don't have to, but some people find work in-person more fun. If that's not you, there are plenty of forever-remote companies to get a job at.

I don’t disagree. Just sharing my opinion. I understand people might look forward to going back to the office, but I’m not.

I agree. Those looking to force everyone back into the office want to prove their worth in front of everyone else.

I hate the idea of how some companies try and position the company as your second family. “No I’m here to do what I do to find my life outside of here.”

I know a number of execs at various tech companies and honestly this talk does not reflect my reality or experiences whatsoever.

Execs generally optimize for impact and success, and while their paths may not always be correct, I don' really know a single one who primarily wants to prove their worth in front of everyone else.

What they tell people and what they are actually optimising for may be two completely different things.

Like, almost all of us are mostly unaware of why we do things, why would executives be any different?

100%. A lot of the people here commenting that they like forced in person work don’t realize they’re indoctrinated.

Yeah, for sure it's impossible that people have different opinions without being indoctrinated, simply impossible.

This way of thinking is why people who disagree cannot even talk anymore. If someone says they believe something, don't jump to conclusions that they are manipulated or indoctrinated, there are plenty of things that are simply _difference of opinion_, but somehow that thought seems pretty wild today, for some reason.

This is so woke, presuming you know better than others around you. You should become a politician, so that you can force your enlightened beliefs on others.

Giving people too much freedom opened the Pandora's box?