[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation

You should definitely stop doing "more", also.

My last job tried to do this. They didn't even have enough desks for everyone. My entire team said "no thanks" and several people quit and they backtracked real fast. Now their stock is worth $2 when it used to be $40 a year ago lol

Just look for other jobs if you are standing your ground. Sometimes it takes a few losing a few people for them to realize they fucked up

Once it is clearly proven you can work remotely, a commute to the office should be viewed as a site visit with the travel time being on the clock and travel costs reimbursed. If they do that, then yeah sure I'll listen to podcasts for an hour a day, anything else should be looked at as the pay cut it actually is. ((Travel time x hourly wage)+travel costs).

This might not be an answer but my worked also requested us come in 2 days a week. So I ride my bike in around 11am and back home about 1pm. WFH the rest of the hours. I’m all about malicious compliance.

I feel this so much.

I was hired specifically on a WFH contract, so I don't think my company will be pushing for this. I'm okay with going to the office for the occasional big meeting and such, that's fine. It's fun even, meeting my colleagues in person.

However, due to a list of reasons working in an office for a longer period of time is not sustainable for me. It takes a toll both on my physical health and my mental health. I'm perfectly able to do most anything anyone else can do, but I cannot handle the deluge of social interaction that comes with working in an office and commuting.

Thus there are two options. Either I continue working from home, and I'll be a productive member of society. Or I'll go to office, and sooner or later become essentially disabled. I find the former much more enticing and fulfilling than the latter.

The upper management at my work is pushing for 3 days a week, but as of now it's completely optional. They keep acting like hybrid work is the best of both worlds, but I honestly feel like hybrid work is the worst of both worlds. Moving all of my equipment is so disruptive to my workflow. And now I get all of the drawbacks of needing to commute with the added drawback of needed to move all of my equipment every day that I go in. My laptop will die if it isn't plugged in for 2 hours, even when asleep, so if I just leave it in my backpack between work days that I go into the office, it will die and I will need to re-open all my applications, which is very time consuming with how slow my laptop is.

My manager decided that our team will have one weekly optional in-office day, so for those of us who want to come in, we can on the same day others want to. We all have lunch together on those days, and we usually leave early - around 3:30 PM. It has actually been really nice to see people's faces. It's just understood that we hardly get any actual work done those days, and it's more for """team building"""

Things you never hear people say 'I'm looking forward to a long commute and spending all day in an office'.

Why is this even a discussion point?Working from home has been such a game changer. It's better for family life, it's better for the environment, it's efficient. Much of the anxiety around homeworking is the suspicion that people work less. The fact is, if your job sucks you are not doing it wherever it happens to be.

Be extremely anxious. These companies are looking for those that bend the knee. It doesn't matter if you've been with them one year or fourty. If they find a reason to make you the example they will certainly do it especially if you're in the tech sector.

I applaud you standing your ground but my advice is to actually find a job or two that suites your situation and apply to it. Having options and offers is better.

Its so awesome that people like you stand their ground. It makes a difference for all of us.

There are two reasons they want people back in the office: control and real estate. Managers maintain power by controlling and manipulating people. That's harder to do if you're not present. Corporations have huge investments in real estate and don't want to see these drop in value. None of these reasons convey any benefit to the employee.

You have IT manager experience, my dude. You'll definitely find some remote work either back on the dev side or still in management. My company tried to pull this too but joke's on them because I moved 200 miles away from the office during Covid. The Economist recently published an article which cites a study that says working from home is not as productive as previously thought, because of the aggregate value that unplanned micro-interactions in the office can provide. Not sure I agree...

I'm on the otherside of the coin. I was remote like many during covid then recently took a job where I have a 40min commute 2 days a week. I wasn't happy about that to start and thought I wanted full time remote. I'm 4 months in now and I love it. To me it feels like the best of both worlds. My drive isn't a hard 40 min and I get through podcasts and calls to friends/family. I just bring my laptop and dock at home or office which is easy. It has been great seeing and meeting people. I try to structure my days so I get meetings in person and focus work done on WFH days. Not for everyone but some, like me, might be surprised that they like a blend more than they think.

We need to start a remote workers union.

Good on you for quitting.

I would HIGHLY advise though, ensuring you have another job lined up before quitting. Lined up as in, you have the paperwork signed. It's common these days to go months without any work. I've been at it for a few years myself, and I'm a tech lead.

You did the right thing my dude. If it makes you feel any better, today I left from work 30 minutes earlier to get my children from day care, a thing I have agreed with my manager to do during this month because I have no one else to do it and he agreed since I have a lot of overtime owed to me. The thing is that today the GM and the SM of the organization were here and I was in the meeting room with them. When the time came I just said, "well If you excuse me, I have to go get the kids", shaked hands with the GM and left. I remember everyone in the room looking at me the way you would imagine. Anyway. We have good unions in my country and it was all legal. I'm giving 100% everyday, not an inch higher. Apparently, I might not be promotion melaterial, but my kids are on top of everything else and worth every second I can spare for them.

If you used to meet people in person at the office, be prepared for a fight. But I personally think a reasonable company should allow you to go full remote. My company and did and my team is all on site.

That being said you're doing the right thing. Look for another job that will let you go full remote. You have the experience, now shop your talent around. Who knows you might also get a nice pay raise as well.

I think you did it right. You politely explained that remote work is both amicable to your position and a significant benefit to your quality of life. In order to continue selling your labour to them, you require enough flexibility to accommodate this request. If the company specifically needs the position to be in-person then unfortunately it’s time to part ways.

As far as predicting the future— if you’ve been there 15 years you probably have a decent idea of both how valuable you are to the company, and how valuable the key decisionmakers see you. It’s likely not in their best interest to cut an employee with so much institutional knowledge out just for a policy shift. Unless you’re being paid inflated wages for your position compared with the industry, I’d hazard to guess you’re safe.

Something to consider would be to unionize your workplace, if everyone says this is dumb I'm not doing it and they have the extra legal protections of being in a union then these shit ass Bosses can't do anything about it.

Good for you! Children are only children once, jobs will always be jobs. I definitely am not going back to the office & will freelance if I have to. (software)

EDIT: Context. I'm not sure how the drag-back is unfolding in the US but where I work in the UK, the boss is not fighting us over it, thankfully. Almost all our clients are not in Europe & some team members were commuting an hour or more, some were leaving early to pick up kids - so a flex time policy was in place, even before the pandemic.

Since the pandemic, junior/mid members come in once a week & seniors once a fortnight. If I can fix it remotely, then I do, if not then I go in - never by threat & can leave when I'm done. As a plus, performance & work quality increased, people have claimed back 1-2 hours a day. Comms with US/ AUS teams is easier than before. So while I'm lucky, if they want it back to like before then I will freelance until I find the balance I need.

Fuck ya, preach it. I'm in the same boat but not quite yet being forced to go back. But if I go back... I'll walk lol. The time is worth so much to me.

They are only hurting themselves. Remote workers are more productive and they are going to lose you to a remote company. The only people wanting to go back are those who waste time at the water cooler and had no life of their own.

Fuck yes! I did the same thing at my last job. Similar setup, geographically dispersed even before the pandemic. Got everything up in the cloud, we were rocking it. Early releases, dev always ahead of schedule. They tried to pull me in the office 2 days a week last year so I fucking quit!

New job I still have to battle every now and then to stay remote but they know I'll bounce the second they try to make me come in. Don't get me wrong I'll come in for a meeting or something if it's important enough, and news flash... it rarely is!

Keep it up man, push back on that office work bullshit. Stay remote, spend the time with family. Fuck office culture, it's irrelevant.

Sounds like it's definitely time for a new job. 15 years is a long time, especially in IT.

Sounds like my employer. Vague messaging from the CEO a few months back about going into the office, but that it was up to managers to determine what was best for their teams.

Now, the CEO is chiding people for not being in the office at least twice a week. Luckily I’m in a market with a strong presence for my area, but those hotspots are being told to come in at least twice a week.

Good on you for standing your ground. Honestly if they were smart they would give you a raise when the time comes anyway but companies aren't really the smartest when it comes to retention so I hope you find exactly what you're looking for and better.

Hell yea dude. Stand your ground.

WFH is the best option for office work. It makes no sense for many jobs to be in office.

Currently my company does remote hybrid but theres talk of going full remote and i would be over the moon for that. Dont give up man! And good on you for polishing your resume to prepare for the worst.

The last company that tried to pull that on me, I quit a few weeks after.

Easier if you are in a in-demand field, however, and of course, find another job before you resign.

I went freelance after covid. The management's attitude towards WFH really underlined for me how little they cared for their employees. It's not the kind of work people need to be in the office for, yet they kept pushing, and surprise surprise, wave after wave of covid went through the people that thought being in the office was a good idea. People are still suffering the effects years on. Couldn't be happier now I'm working for myself.

I am looking for work and when I give salary requirements its for wfh. I will do in office but its a 20% premium or 4% per day required in the office. In addition I work from home from start time to end time except when I take lunch. I work from the office from when I get there to end time and for lunch which is something delays me oh well I have to deal with whats around and when talking with folks in the office or whatever.

First of all, I think there’s absolutely no reason to be worried, you‘re a developer at manager level, I think you have nothing to fear about on the job market. There are literally thousands of companies around the globe who want just you in their team no matter where you work from. There are so many jobs you can do 100% remote, so you’ll find just what you want in no time. If a company isn‘t developed enough in the year 2023 to let people work from home while their whole team is spread around the world then f them.

I not only believe that it‘s just an excuse from you, I am convinced that your productivity will go down if you had to go back to the office. Your reasons totally make sense, if they seriously question your arguments I think it’s ok to question yourself if those are people you share the same values with and want to keep on working with.

It‘s also important to show companies that their employees is all they have and they are the ones who should provide them a comfortable and enjoyable environment to work in, otherwise people will leave sooner or later.

Covid should have shown us that (mental) health and time for yourself and your loved ones is top priority in life so your move was the only logical decision. Additionally you proved you‘re a woman or a man of integrity and honestly you have my full respect.

Enjoy the time with your family and in the worst case you will find an employer soon that takes you with a hand kiss and you‘ll be happy then.

Keep us up to date please and enjoy your day! 🌞

Good. The best action is to unionize, the next best action is to independently stand your ground. WFH is superior for workers when possible. We deserve it