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‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

cnbc.com

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Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#21

Post by CPLX »

dcolkitt wrote: post #15

I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…

> For companies who’s entire value is the intangible human capital of their workforce

Yeah no. The core value of these companies is the fact that they’ve managed to establish a monopolistic position within an important high-margin market segment and now find themselves stewards of a massive money printing machine.

Yes, eventually, without a competent workforce they’ll start to face threats and crisis, but I think you’re wildly underestimating the usefulness of that money printing machine to solve any problems that crop up in the next year or three if they find they’ve miscalculated slightly.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#22

Post by [deleted] »

kaycebasques wrote: post #10

Here's a blog post outlining why I left Google this month (June 2021) to take a 1-year sabbatical: https://kayce.basqu.es/sabbatical/prologue/ (Per AnIdiotOnTheNet's feedback here is a summary of my motivations and a compare/contrast with the ideas mentioned in the CNBC post) The main thing for me was the prospect of having kids in the next 5 years. It doesn't seem like it will ever get easier to have a sabbatical th…

[deleted]

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#23

Post by eric4smith »

seneca wrote: post #14
eric4smith wrote: post #7

I think regardless of the stats, there is a movement of people wanting a better work and life balance. But what will this mean for society? For one, I see in the immediate future a bit of a reduction in commerce for a while. This is simply because people will have less money To spend. Duh. Still… humans always persist and adapt. Therefore in maybe 5 years there will be more of a Renaissance and a big change in how we…

Meta-response, but what is with the carriage return after every sentence, (and sometimes in the middle)? It's a jarring way to write.

Haha good point. I learned to do it so it’s easier for people to read instead of a wall of text.

People usually get bored with a wall of text.

My sentences are longer on desktop - but I was writing on mobile now.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#24

Post by _red »

dcolkitt wrote: post #15

I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…

Well...FANG products have largely reached the point in development where new features are incremental and not closely tied to growth or churn in a meaningful way.

Not being dismissive, simply pointing out...what fundamental leverage does a developer have against inelastic customer demand? Are customer going to stop using FANG products because advertising feature 3.2.97 isn't added this quarter?

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#25

Post by underseacables »

I think WFH is also primed for abuse, but I haven’t heard anything from companies of what they are going to do, or what employees are going to do, about preventing and avoiding abuse. it’s easy and rather flip and just say well if you don’t do your job you’re going to get fired, what does that mean exactly, and how long would it take? I think there’s also a trust issue, a lot of people who want to return to the office just don’t trust their colleagues to actually do the work from home.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#26

Post by alexdias »

dcolkitt wrote: post #15

I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…

> I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH.

Yes, aggressive measures such as:

-Allowing employees to apply to be permanent remote employees

-Allowing 2 WFH days per week

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#27

Post by hnthrowaway2021 »

dcolkitt wrote: post #15

I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…

I work at a FANG (hence the throwaway), and I agree.

Frankly, the COVID-19 pandemic is simply not over yet. Not in the whole world, and not even in the U.S. Especially with news about a new variant, it feels like a safety risk to re-open offices so early.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#28

Post by pjc50 »

mdorazio wrote: post #19
null_object wrote: post #12

I honestly don't know whether these articles are over-stating their case, and neither do I know how typical my own experience is, but for some reason it bothers me that the tone of the HN discussion is so reflexively dismissive. 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…

I can only speak from personal experience, but fwiw I'm currently consulting with 2 non-tech Fortune 500 companies. Both have implemented "hybrid" return to office policies where employees have to live within 100 miles of the office and be able to come in 1 day a week or 1 day a month depending on team. I've talked with executives in charge of large teams at both companies about this issue and so far it looks like th…

> "hybrid" return to office policies where employees have to live within 100 miles of the office and be able to come in 1 day a week or 1 day a month depending on team.

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.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#29

Post by pjc50 »

dcolkitt wrote: post #15

I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…

I suspect it's individual managers who've never quite got past "if you can't see someone how do you know they're working?" Never underestimate human irrationality in these things.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#30

Post by gaws »

dcolkitt wrote: post #15

I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…

> I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH.

A lot of people want to work for FAANG. If a current employee resigns because of WFH policies, those companies can likely find a replacement who is more receptive to returning to the office.

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