I've talked with executives in charge of large teams at both companies about this issue and so far it looks like the actual resignation rate due to the policy is less than 10%. Hiring, on the other hand, has gotten significantly harder and candidates are citing need for wfh as a reason they're not interested in open roles.
So, personally I think tech workers are overrepresented in the "wfh or quit" discussions, but there's a longer-term shift of some kind that's going to play out, especially in hiring.
This is where I suspect a lot of places are going to end up in the medium term. I'm not back to the office in the first place, and I'm aware that I have a nice office and moderate commute, but I still want some wfh time, as well as some time seeing my colleagues. A balance.
The problem is that in a hyper-optimizing environment balance is something to be eliminated.
I think most people want a better work/life balance, which is what all this ultimately represents. I imagine the eventual long term settle is somewhere more in the “wfh, but with team gatherings for a few days once a month” in a lot of industries.
This is only a tiny subset of people though, and is more the exception that proves the rule.
There are cities other than than the west coast as well. 5 acres 1.5 hours from Minneapolis will be 300k with a house.
We’ve already seen it before the pandemic: where engineers had one day or half a day a week of remote as an exception, it generally resulted in a push to have it applied to the other roles that could work from home (marketing etc.)
This is much more reasonable than what I've seen most places offer. I don't mind the sound of that at all!
This sounds a bit too much like jobs that claim 10% or 25% travel that pull a bait and switch, or don't hire the 2nd opening for your position, so your responsibly to "cover" for the dept really means double work, or same amount of work but more like 60-75% travel.
Same with jobs the promise of a 40 hr week, but ends up being 60 hrs to handle everything that's your responsibility.
So my question is: what guarantees or addl compensation are people getting (in writing) to keep the one day a month from turning into more?
Excuses like: "oh that one day is for our staff meeting- if your team leader wants weekly update meetings in the office you need to be there"
Or "you're responsible for coordinating and meeting with your team as needed to fulfill the responsibilities of your position"
Etc
Extra day off or extra days salary or just compensation for extra commute? Or just put up with it til it crosses a line?
I know if I get two job offers and one is any form of WFH Hybrid (or a "you can probably work it out with your manager") and the other is 100% Remote, I'm taking the 100% remote position, unless the hybrid is like 2x the pay.
Right now there's a lot of recruiters trying to sell me on various nebulous hybrid positions (sounds like the companies don't really know or have committed to anything just yet, or are afraid to let potential hires know what they're really planning), but there's equally as many recruiters contacting me for 100% remote (and plans to stay that way) as well.
I don't mind meeting up with other employees on the occasional fun team-building outing, but I really don't want to work in an office again.
I likely have permanent Tinnitus in one ear thanks to my time in open offices and I had to turn music up to block out multiple conversations to concentrate, for one reason why I'm not in a hurry to go back, let alone there still being uncertainty about this or future pandemics (I'm vaccinated, but delta or delta plus or the next crazy variant might still fuck me up, and I don't want to be stuck having to go to an office when I start feeling uncomfortable about the spread of those).
Also I don't want to deal with paying and transporting my dogs to doggy daycare everyday, or spend 2+ hours a day driving to and from work. I've done plenty of that in the past, and it always sucked.
> I don't mind meeting up with other employees on the occasional fun team-building outing, but I really don't want to work in an office again.
I think this is probably where a lot of companies will settle out; wfh, but with monthly or quarterly workshops/meetups for teams.
A recruiter (household name tech but not FAANG) pitched me on a position that was "1 day a week" in an office 300 miles from my home.
I knew my conditions* wouldn't be met, so I turned him down.
*The company covers my airfare and meals. I fly out and back same day. The morning outbound never departs before 8AM. The return never arrives after 6PM.
That is a good point. My company doesn't know or has not set a return policy. So I imagine it is hard for recruiters and hiring managers to give an honest answer. And I wonder if it is better to wait until more companies have set a firm policy.
That means better organized meetings with a purpose rather than a bunch of weekly meetings that are there just cuz.
I think it is some personalities just need human interaction more than others and when they are in management/executive roles they want people in the office.
Corollary I guess is that some of us might be able to lock in a remote-only position if we act now.
I understand that a lot of people will respond to a question of whether they intend to quit their job with a 'you bet!' even at the best of times, but I'm seeing a lot of people quitting and switching right now, as different company plans are crystallized for the 'new normal'.
In my current company (for another 2 months) I was interviewed to join a team of 12 tech developers, and a couple of months ago the first of the switchers quit to leave for another company specifically because they were guaranteeing remote-first work.
Then another five of us quit over the following few weeks. We met up last week for a goodbye lunch in the park: half the team that I joined a year ago leaving the company over the Spring and Summer.
Is a 50% quit-rate normal? Maybe each of us had slightly different priorities and plans for the future? But I do know for sure that people are reflecting more than I've ever experienced before, about their work environment, the balance in their lives, and prioritizing other things than 40-50 hours each week sitting in front of a screen, inside an office.