Live data from Hacker News

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

cnbc.com

121–130 of 531 posts

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

#121

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…

Nobody wants to give up a something once it becomes a part of their life that they enjoy. The FANG workers got a taste of not having a daily long commute and don't want to give this small life improvement back. Getting back several hours of your life is pretty big. FANG companies however have gotten a taste of nearly unlimited power and have not heard "no" in years. They too don't want to give this up. This is why th…

I found that meetings of dubious utility grew to fill every working hour and then some. I'm quitting and accepting a long commute to reclaim lifespan.

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

#122

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…

Many of these companies are letting more senior people stay remote while requiring L4 and below to be in office. If they lose a ton of L3's and L4's to other companies its a loss but much less of a loss than losing L5's+

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

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before the pandemic FANGs seemed to want everyone in the office as much as possible. That's why they have their own cafeterias/restaurants, daycare, workout rooms, etc. They wanted employees in the office, working a minimum of 40 hours a week. I'm guessing even though remote work is going fine for now, they're concerned they're not going to be able to keep getting over 40 hours of week out of employees. (This is conj…

> (This is conjecture on my part, I have no idea how many hours FANG employees tend to work). Then don't conjecture. Speculation doesn't add to the conversation. In the absence of evidence, it just spreads a misinformation virus.

Without due speculation we could only talk about fully established facts. That would make a very infertile conversation.

Also you should have more trust for your fellows in dialogue here, that they do have some immune function against misinformation viruses.

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

#124
post #33

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…

I'd like to follow your blog, but I don't see an RSS feed link. Will you consider adding one?

Thank you for reading and yes I can do that. If you want to contact me [1] I will let you know when it's up and running.

[1] https://kayce.basqu.es/contact

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

#125
post #74
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a FAANG employee myself, I think your opinion of the average FAANG developer is perhaps a bit too generous.

That's certainly possible :) Even as someone with over a decade of work experience it's somewhat aspirational to work for a FAANG and get that big paycheck and all those RSUs. But no WFH is a deal-breaker unless they start opening up offices in Milwaukee soon.

Google and Amazon are both in Madison.

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

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before the pandemic FANGs seemed to want everyone in the office as much as possible. That's why they have their own cafeterias/restaurants, daycare, workout rooms, etc. They wanted employees in the office, working a minimum of 40 hours a week. I'm guessing even though remote work is going fine for now, they're concerned they're not going to be able to keep getting over 40 hours of week out of employees. (This is conj…

> (This is conjecture on my part, I have no idea how many hours FANG employees tend to work). Then don't conjecture. Speculation doesn't add to the conversation. In the absence of evidence, it just spreads a misinformation virus.

Many comments in this thread are speculation/conjecture, I was honest enough to label mine as such. We're not running studies or experiments here, this is a place to converse. My comment allows others to provide additional evidence for or against my theory.

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

#127
post #38

Fine, you want to WFH? Awesome, expect a pay cut. Part of a modern white-collar salary has some expectations built into it, like the fact that people need to be compensated for the inconveniences of leaving their homes and coming to the office and therefore having to pay for things like childcare, cars, clothing, parking, etc. Don't have those expenses anymore? Then why should I compensate you the same as if you did?…

Your last line is the part most people overlook. Offshoring and outsourcing have typically come with quality trade offs, not because Indians are somehow inferior engineers, but because companies have used in person offices to paper over a lot of process and communication issues.

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

#128
post #38

Fine, you want to WFH? Awesome, expect a pay cut. Part of a modern white-collar salary has some expectations built into it, like the fact that people need to be compensated for the inconveniences of leaving their homes and coming to the office and therefore having to pay for things like childcare, cars, clothing, parking, etc. Don't have those expenses anymore? Then why should I compensate you the same as if you did?…

>Don't have those expenses anymore? Then why should I compensate you the same as if you did? Because you're paying people to complete a job, not for what they do outside of work hours genius. Are you paying people who have kids and longer commutes more money? Didn't think so. >Why should I pay you more than some other remote worker in India, who'll work for a third of your pay? They're 1/3 as good. If that's such a g…

What about being Indian makes someone 1/3 as good?

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

#129
I think this is being over stated. I do think there's a trend towards WFH but it's not WFH all the time. It seems the hybrid model looks like the most viable model to keep HR and employees happy. It's probably due to the fact that there's still a childcare shortage which will put more pressure for one spouse to stay home even in the summer. So if Google and company want to get back to nearly 100% on-site then they'll have to invest heavily into supporting their employees outside of the workplace in things like childcare to make the transition more sustainable.

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

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting game-theoretic play: play chicken with return to work plans. Big co promises remote-first work indefinitely, scoops a bunch of talent from competitors who return to office first, then later go back on their word when nobody else is offering those terms. Even if some get to stay remote new hires may not be offered that. Corollary I guess is that some of us might be able to lock in a remote-only position if…

They could pull the same trick with pay, healthcare, or anything else they offer when their employees are starting. There's a reason they don't do that.

They may not alter the existing terms but they could change future offers they make.
Post reply on HN