4 ms·

When companies start pressuring people to return to the office, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a wave of quitting to switch to another company that’s more r

When companies start pressuring people to return to the office, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a wave of quitting to switch to another company that’s more remote friendly. That will be limited by the actual number of remote jobs, so the early movers will get an advantage. I think you’ll end up with a decent number of people who answer surveys that they’ll quit before having to go back to the office, but realize there are no comparable remote jobs available.

agotterer 5y ago
Early movers will snatch up the currently open remote positions. If remote really becomes the standard then companies who want to remain competitive will have no choice but to adapt and adjust policies.
ipsi 5y ago
Interestingly enough, my employer has gone the opposite way - they're "shutting down" (that is, chose not to renew the lease for) our office in this city, and had all of us sign new WFH contracts. Same for the office in another part of Europe. Some of us were 100% OK with that, and some were really not - since the job wasn't expected to be a WFH job, not everyone has a good location to work from, or reliable internet, etc., etc - those people have been able to work from the office at various points over the last year as the pandemic ebbed and flowed. As a consequence, my employer has walked the office closure back a little - we're still all full-time remote, but there will be a smaller office available for e.g., project kickoffs, or people who want to get out of their house for a bit.
dcolkitt 5y ago
This presupposes that the wave of quitting has no significant impact on the employer side. I'd imagine that many companies who push office-first too hard will find themselves short staffed in a very tight labor market. The likely response of many will be to panic and convert to remote-first to avoid hemorrhaging workers.

agotterer 5y ago

Early movers will snatch up the currently open remote positions. If remote really becomes the standard then companies who want to remain competitive will have no choice but to adapt and adjust policies.

ipsi 5y ago

Interestingly enough, my employer has gone the opposite way - they're "shutting down" (that is, chose not to renew the lease for) our office in this city, and had all of us sign new WFH contracts. Same for the office in another part of Europe. Some of us were 100% OK with that, and some were really not - since the job wasn't expected to be a WFH job, not everyone has a good location to work from, or reliable internet, etc., etc - those people have been able to work from the office at various points over the last year as the pandemic ebbed and flowed. As a consequence, my employer has walked the office closure back a little - we're still all full-time remote, but there will be a smaller office available for e.g., project kickoffs, or people who want to get out of their house for a bit.

dcolkitt 5y ago

This presupposes that the wave of quitting has no significant impact on the employer side. I'd imagine that many companies who push office-first too hard will find themselves short staffed in a very tight labor market. The likely response of many will be to panic and convert to remote-first to avoid hemorrhaging workers.