Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
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Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#2I’ll be honest: I feel somewhat vindicated due my own personal struggles with the open office[0] and people arguing for the status quo on hacker news[1].
I am extremely sad at the extreme loss of life and horrible conditions caused by the pandemic. So I feel exceedingly guilty for feeling glad that an upside of it is that we can finally do away with this horrible practice of crushing everyone together so the managers can marvel at their panopticon.
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#3Of course this is happening.
I’m coming up on year 10 of working remotely, and year 2 of completely async. The only forced-commute job I ever had was for 6 months right out of college.
I’ve been preaching remote work for almost the entire time I’ve been doing it. I thought it would catch on much sooner, but it’s here now.
I think async is the next thing that will happen. If you’re building software there’s really no reason you have to share working hours with anyone. It’s convenient at times, but it’s by no means required.
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#4I’ll be honest: I feel somewhat vindicated due my own personal struggles with the open office[0] and people arguing for the status quo on hacker news[1]. I am extremely sad at the extreme loss of life and horrible conditions caused by the pandemic. So I feel exceedingly guilty for feeling glad that an upside of it is that we can finally do away with this horrible practice of crushing everyone together so the managers…
Everything is a mixed bag of good and bad. In fact this pandemic will probably save a lot more lives during the next pandemic in terms of preparations etc.
It’s also been great for remote work. No need for additional hand-wringing.
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#5>Although there isn’t any hard data to show increased quits due to ending flexible work specifically, anecdotes of worker exits are starting to trickle in.
Quote straight from the article.
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#6Quitting for that is only possible as a solution if you have remote friendly alternative to go to after you quit, but if, like in Austria, all the employers in the country went back to the office then you pretty much have no other options than to go to the office as your employer demands, since you quitting won't fix this issues :(
A solution to force the employers hand to allowing remote work might be mass resignations across the country, but Austrians in general are too submissive and fearful to collectively strike against their employers like the French for example.
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#7Of course this is happening. I’m coming up on year 10 of working remotely, and year 2 of completely async. The only forced-commute job I ever had was for 6 months right out of college. I’ve been preaching remote work for almost the entire time I’ve been doing it. I thought it would catch on much sooner, but it’s here now. I think async is the next thing that will happen. If you’re building software there’s really no…
Can you explain your day to day? And how do you keep up
with company politics, changing requirements etc?
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#8Quitting for that is only possible as a solution if you have remote friendly alternative to go to after you quit, but if, like in Austria, all the employers in the country went back to the office then you pretty much have no other options than to go to the office as your employer demands, since you quitting won't fix this issues :( A solution to force the employers hand to allowing remote work might be mass resignati…
There are plenty of companies out there that hire internationally, especially since you’re in the EU it should be little issue finding one if you’re a competent engineer. Pay is often better that way as well
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#9Quitting for that is only possible as a solution if you have remote friendly alternative to go to after you quit, but if, like in Austria, all the employers in the country went back to the office then you pretty much have no other options than to go to the office as your employer demands, since you quitting won't fix this issues :( A solution to force the employers hand to allowing remote work might be mass resignati…
There are plenty of companies out there that hire internationally, especially since you’re in the EU it should be little issue finding one if you’re a competent engineer. Pay is often better that way as well
The issues here are taxes and labor laws. If you work remotely for a company abroad then taxes are now higher for you, since now you're paying the share your employer was paying for you, since you work as a freelancer (Austria does not allow direct employment for companies not headquartered in Austria), and you also loose social benefits like PTO and sick leave despite paying higher taxes.
So international remote work is kind of a loose-loose scenario here unless you get some super high compensation to make up for the disadvantages.
Also, I had a lot of negative experiences interviewing for remote only companies. Week long take home projects (basically free labor), multiple interview stages with IQ tests, culture and other hazing and then finally, either ghosting or rejection for whatever undisclosed reason. This is not a good use of my time, especially not for weeks on end, after 8 hours of actual work at my current employer. I was buying myself a one way ticket to burnout central.
Re: Workers quitting over return-to-office policies
#10Quitting for that is only possible as a solution if you have remote friendly alternative to go to after you quit, but if, like in Austria, all the employers in the country went back to the office then you pretty much have no other options than to go to the office as your employer demands, since you quitting won't fix this issues :( A solution to force the employers hand to allowing remote work might be mass resignati…
If you can't find another job quitting might not be an option. Imagine if you have a family or someone that depends on you.