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

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

#231

Post by bregma »

bluGill wrote: post #142
HelloNurse wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WFH-friendly employers will lose less staff AND hire more easily than places that insist on returning people to office for no perceived good reason. But competition isn't the strong point of badly managed companies.

But in person companies believe that personal interactions will make the people they can hire better than the WFH companies so it works out. WFH is hard to manage. A lot of things that get shared in "hallway communication" become formal meetings. I make no claim as to who is right, but there are downsides to everything.

It's hard to have a hallway conversation when you're constantly being watched to make you keep your bottom in your seat.

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

#232

Post by jensensbutton »

philote wrote: post #101
klipklop wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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…

At my FAANG they did studies and on average people are working MORE hours each day since the switch to WFH. If they were concerned about maximizing hours then they'd leave it as in. I suspect there are other concerns.

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

#233

Post by stemlord »

awsthro00945 wrote: post #214
ItsMonkk wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I experienced all of these to a much better degree during college. Are you sure you don't just want to live in a city that provides plenty of shared spaces? Relying on your employer for these items seems unwise.

> Relying on your employer for these items seems unwise. Why? Work is where you spend one third (or more) of your time during your adult life. Why the hell would I not want such a significant portion of my life to not also provide great benefits like opportunities to make friends, meet people, eat great food, and have fun? If you scoff at people who want to make their workplaces more welcoming and happier, no shit th…

But part of the value of WFH is the ability to lower work-time to something even less than one third. I've always found it extremely difficult to foster worthwhile relationships and have truly fulfilling fun in a corporate PC environment anyway.

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

#234

Post by barbazoo »

awsthro00945 wrote: post #214
ItsMonkk wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I experienced all of these to a much better degree during college. Are you sure you don't just want to live in a city that provides plenty of shared spaces? Relying on your employer for these items seems unwise.

> Relying on your employer for these items seems unwise. Why? Work is where you spend one third (or more) of your time during your adult life. Why the hell would I not want such a significant portion of my life to not also provide great benefits like opportunities to make friends, meet people, eat great food, and have fun? If you scoff at people who want to make their workplaces more welcoming and happier, no shit th…

> Work is where you spend one third (or more) of your time during your adult life.

I surely hope this is rare. Even a 40h work week is less than a quarter of work per week and that doesn't account for holidays, vacation etc.

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

#235

Post by Wowfunhappy »

ItsMonkk wrote: post #175
achow wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a single, young: I miss the office for.. - Free and convenient food. - Social chatter & engagement. - Making friends with employees who I don't know and connecting with new employees. - Work life separation (balance). - Proper workstation, climate controlled environment. - Sense of belonging - team outing, after hours beers.. - Intra and inter company sports and games. - Meeting potential dates. [Not me. Just em…

I experienced all of these to a much better degree during college. Are you sure you don't just want to live in a city that provides plenty of shared spaces? Relying on your employer for these items seems unwise.

I'm more-or-less the person described in the GP, and I live in Manhattan. Being in a city doesn't mean crap if I spend the day sitting alone in my tiny studio apartment.

40 hours a week is a huge chunk of my life. I don't want to just be a robot during that time, I want to be part of a community of some sort. (Even as I do try to maintain connections outside of work too!)

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

#236

Post by ishjoh »

api wrote: post #84

WFH has the potential to end the worst macroeconomic trend of the last 20-30 years, which is the "you have to be in one of four or five cities to do something" trend. We have to fight for it. Resign, resign, resign. The four of five cities where you "must live" are: San Francisco (Bay Area), New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and perhaps Boston. Nothing happens anywhere else, or so goes the meme that has been deeply emb…

This is what I've been turning over my head for the last few months. This is an incredible opportunity for younger generations to build wealth and live the American dream. If software folks aren't forced to live in the 5 American alpha cities they'll be able to buy houses in more affordable markets, they'll be able to have children, and they'll be able to save for retirement.

What I've been struggling with is how can we amplify this message and get it into the mainstream consciousness. This is a huge opportunity for older generations in leadership positions to help younger generations.

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

#237

Post by swiley »

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…

Introspection is very hard for anyone running the world. That's why revolutions happen and there isn't a single dynasty stretching back to ancient times.

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

#239

Post by frumper »

fartcannon wrote: post #146

They sent around a form at my work asking everyone what their preference would be. The first guy replied to everyone with his preference: 100% wfh. Since he replied-all, so did everyone else. We got through about 20 employees, all stating their preference as WFH before a manager shut down the reply-all. A week later we got an email saying people wanted 2-3 days in office.

That sounds about right, except my organization landed on full return to office for nebulous "business reasons"

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

#240

Post by triceratops »

barbazoo wrote: post #234
awsthro00945 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Relying on your employer for these items seems unwise. Why? Work is where you spend one third (or more) of your time during your adult life. Why the hell would I not want such a significant portion of my life to not also provide great benefits like opportunities to make friends, meet people, eat great food, and have fun? If you scoff at people who want to make their workplaces more welcoming and happier, no shit th…

> Work is where you spend one third (or more) of your time during your adult life. I surely hope this is rare. Even a 40h work week is less than a quarter of work per week and that doesn't account for holidays, vacation etc.

Not if you take out 56h/week for sleeping.
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