I somehow did. My previous company started to enforce everyone living in cities in which they had offices, to RTO. I was working far away from any of such cities, and they let me continue working remotely. But seeing many of my colleagues go to the office just to open Zoom to chat with me was sad. I found another (remote) job and resigned.
Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
41–50 of 61 posts
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#42Company 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.
> This time around I was out of work for almost three months.
I'm curious as to what your experience was when chatting with recruiters while job-hunting about being fully remote? Did you next company advertize as remote-first?
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#43I allowed myself to be fired for not returning. It took over a full year after the RYO deadline for the firing to happen.
What was the reason they gave for your firing in the end? Some trumped-up poor performance or for being "non-engaged" with work or something like that?
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#44I somehow did. My previous company started to enforce everyone living in cities in which they had offices, to RTO. I was working far away from any of such cities, and they let me continue working remotely. But seeing many of my colleagues go to the office just to open Zoom to chat with me was sad. I found another (remote) job and resigned.
Same situation for me really.
It wasn't the entire decision, but a large part of it was seeing people who live near an office being forced to return.
I wasn't likely to impacted anytime soon given I lived no where near an office and was working as a contractor, but I've seen it before where once you have a mix of people in office and others working remotely the remote workers tend to become second class citizens. I had this happen at a previous position where I was often left out of meetings and discussion I should have been in I suspect because people in the office saw it as bothersome to bring a laptop with video conference me in.
I left for a remote-first company a month ago. I didn't want to return to office, but I to be honest I wouldn't have minded that much if I lived close. I just wasn't in that position.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#45I wish, market is too dangerous right now though. I was out of work for significantly longer than I should have been because my one dealbreaker for the longest time was remote. Current job started out 3/2 hybrid but full RTO is being mandated by the end of the month. Not looking forward to it.
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.
About a month back a manager on my team was hiring for a senior dev role - she was talking to HR about the job spec, and HR recommended only advertizing the role as a junior dev "since senior/principal devs will invariably apply". Bleak is the word!
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#46Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#47Yeah, 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…
I had one of those “don’t ask don’t tell” arrangements. Works fine until the top CEO mandates more and more and the middle manager can’t “hide” you any longer. (Personal experience) Probably a good move on your part
Or you manager changes.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#48Yep, though RTO was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I had had 3 direct managers in a year and a half, had projects sunsetted out from under me, and several reorgs. Add in a forced return to office and I was out of there.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#49I was a full remote employee. The RTO Google did, didn’t impact me. But it ruined the remote culture that was built and created a tiered culture where full remote employees had access to a “privilege” that no longer existed for others. It ruined communication and created unnecessary friction and anxiety. Decided to leave.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone left their job because of RTO?
#50Earlier 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 fully remote employees are still fully remote.