Sorta.
I begged for permission to work remote when a family member got sick. I was reluctantly granted it, but they lined up my replacement behind my back. Luckily I trust no one in this business so I jumped ship before they fired me.
Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
11–20 of 61 posts
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#12Company wanted me to not only return to office, but also move to the west coast. Leaving was a no-brainer.
But the job market is really shit. In the past I've left jobs and got new offers in a week. This time around I was out of work for almost three months.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#13Yeah, I got a job as a dev at one of the UK's high street fashion retailers during the pandemic. Got a load of praise from directors n everyone else for implementing a proper development workflow within the department, as a junior.
After the pandemic we all got an RTO mandate and I found a new, fully remote, job within a month.
The director of the department I was in at the original employer told me she would not be ‘grassing’ on me for not going to the office but it didn’t sit right with me so I left.
After all that I made sure that my current contract has an addendum clearly stating I can:
1. Be fully remote
2. Work my hours whenever I want as long as my core responsibilities are met
3. Work from anywhere in the world.
I’ll be honest, it is great I have that not but it does make finding a new job a bit harder as I am not willing to sacrifice the freedom I’ve earned here.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
My Apple friends are telling me Apple allows hybrid just fine. You can’t be fully remote, but that’s not available at Google either
I recently (within the last year) left Apple. 3 days in the office is mandatory for everyone except those with explicit work from home designations registered within the HR system. Anyone with a desk assigned in an office is required to badge at that office on their org's chosen 3 days per week. Most orgs chose T-W-Th. The difficulty is that folks that had agreements with their management prior to Covid about flexibl…
Sounds like it’s hybrid then. Google is RTO all the way. They could make an exception for someone like Ian, I guess, but then so could Apple.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently (within the last year) left Apple. 3 days in the office is mandatory for everyone except those with explicit work from home designations registered within the HR system. Anyone with a desk assigned in an office is required to badge at that office on their org's chosen 3 days per week. Most orgs chose T-W-Th. The difficulty is that folks that had agreements with their management prior to Covid about flexibl…
Sounds like it’s hybrid then. Google is RTO all the way. They could make an exception for someone like Ian, I guess, but then so could Apple.
Google's RTO is very flacidly enforced right now. According to Team Blind, badging in one day a week avoids any nags from automated systems.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel your pain. The market is bleak at the moment. I checked linkedin a few times and it seems remote jobs are decreasing for some reason.
I definitely understand it as a supply and demand thing. If supply for labor is high and demand for candidates is low, then obviously employers don’t have to be quite as enticing to candidates. The most attractive jobs are remote jobs so they’re the first to be filled. What I don’t understand is why companies don’t seem to accept the obvious cost savings involved with remote work. I just can’t imagine that even hypot…
Tin foil hat says commercial real estate overlords need warm bodies in their empty buildings to provide foot traffic for lease signs go down.
The weird thing is, I’m sure many people here would likely take a pay cut over RTO.
If only we used this monumental opportunity to rethink how we need to collaborate and design cities to support or even embrace remote work models.
Instead, back to concrete jungles and mind numbingly sitting in traffic or being herded from one stop to the next.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#17I allowed myself to be fired for not returning. It took over a full year after the RYO deadline for the firing to happen.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#18Pre-COVID I had a WFH job that decided to sunset remote work after 7 months of employment. I was offered severance or relocation. The choice was simple at the time, but the market is very different now. Think it over carefully.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
I definitely understand it as a supply and demand thing. If supply for labor is high and demand for candidates is low, then obviously employers don’t have to be quite as enticing to candidates. The most attractive jobs are remote jobs so they’re the first to be filled. What I don’t understand is why companies don’t seem to accept the obvious cost savings involved with remote work. I just can’t imagine that even hypot…
Tin foil hat says commercial real estate overlords need warm bodies in their empty buildings to provide foot traffic for lease signs go down. The weird thing is, I’m sure many people here would likely take a pay cut over RTO. If only we used this monumental opportunity to rethink how we need to collaborate and design cities to support or even embrace remote work models. Instead, back to concrete jungles and mind numb…
I definitely think there’s merit to the conspiracy theory that people who own shares in companies are the same general groups of people as those who own commercial real estate interests.
Or there’s the tried and true explanation that it’s just micromanagers who want play power games with their employees.
The senior leadership team member can’t really conceptualize a world where an individual doesn’t sacrifice their entire personal life for work, so hearing that an employee has time to do laundry makes them think that it’s anti-productivity to be home.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I definitely understand it as a supply and demand thing. If supply for labor is high and demand for candidates is low, then obviously employers don’t have to be quite as enticing to candidates. The most attractive jobs are remote jobs so they’re the first to be filled. What I don’t understand is why companies don’t seem to accept the obvious cost savings involved with remote work. I just can’t imagine that even hypot…
Tin foil hat says commercial real estate overlords need warm bodies in their empty buildings to provide foot traffic for lease signs go down. The weird thing is, I’m sure many people here would likely take a pay cut over RTO. If only we used this monumental opportunity to rethink how we need to collaborate and design cities to support or even embrace remote work models. Instead, back to concrete jungles and mind numb…
Real estate companies are generally not wielding any power over tech companies… tech companies have all the leverage in any office leasing deals right now. I’m sure there are exceptions though.