Return to Office Is Bullshit and Everyone Knows It

> remote work isn't working for us

It is working out.

I looked at a few financial statements for a few companies pushing RTO (Amazon and a couple of Wall Street firms). Granted, it wasn't comprehensive or scientific, but: They all made more money in 2022 than in 2019 (the last year before COVID).

So I really do not see what the problem is.

I'm looking through the responses, and this makes the most sense.

The difference between saying that '12 hours is too much', depends on how it is said and what is open to negotiation to keep both sides happy. The thing is that 12 hours may be too much, but 4 hours, for example, might keep both sides happy. Also saying '12 hours is too much' is also an opening gambit that states what the issue is, and opens the door to how two people might come to an agreement.

Ultimatums tend to come in the form of offering a binary choice, one of which is full acceptance of a proposal made by one person. Ultimatums don't come with a 'or we can negotiate something that works for us' addendum, they are usually all or nothing.

While the first type of communication / boundary may well lead to a divorce if it can't be resolved, it isn't necessarily presented as an ultimatum.

There's definitely a gray-line there, not just about how unilateral it is (which is what you are saying), but also about norms and expectations.

"Fill out this HR form or leave" is expected for the first day of work.

Similarly "Not playing WoW for 12 hours a day" is probably expected in a committed adult relationship (unless of course this was a norm during courtship).

RTO might well be a norm for people not hired remote. But forcing those hired as remote workers to relocate seems outside of the norms. It's the difference between "Do your job, or your fired" and "Switch to this different job, or your fired."

[edit]

I think there is a third leg to making something an ultimatum, and it's about the degree to which the move is (or is perceived to be) about imposing ones will on another.

"I don't want to be married to someone who plays WoW for 12 hours a day," is a different tone from "Quit WoW, or I'm leaving you," and it's natural for someone to respond differently to those two statements.

As a remote worker before the pandemic, I think the worst thing we could do is return to the status quo. I remember trying to find a new remote job before I moved across the country to Portland (pre-pandemic). I interviewed for a job in downtown Chicago, which would have required a 35-minute train ride to and from the city each day. I wasn't moving for a few months and I offered to work in the office before switching to remote. I even said "if you don't think I'm contributing enough value by the time I leave, and you aren't comfortable with me working remotely, let me know and I can stay with the company long enough to help you find my replacement". They still turned me down.

The status quo was "people that work from home aren't actually doing work", or "people that work from home aren't as productive", etc. I remember going to the dentist and telling the dental assistant that I work from home, and her response was "don't people think you're slacking off?" and my response was "no, because I'm an adult". There was an almost insurmountable stigma around remote work. As terrible as the pandemic was, it exposed an irrefutable truth about remote work: people can still do their jobs perfectly fine at home.

I spent most of my career working in offices, until I went fully remote about 2 years before the pandemic. There are aspects of the office that I miss. I'm not vehemently against going back into an office, but it would come with some pretty big caveats: the office has to be relatively close, there are no fixed days or amount of days I'd be required to come in, and I'd have the flexibility to come and go as I pleased. I doubt many companies would agree to that arrangement, mainly because of the real estate costs, which is why I stick to remote work.

I don't want to go back to a world where I have to convince a company that a remote worker can still provide as much value as one in the office. I don't want to be forced to stay late at an office to finish something that I could knock out twice as fast at home. I can only hope that we don't spend the next few years going backwards to arrive at a status quo that was misguided and not grounded in reality.

Edit: Grammar

I have been a remote worker since before the pandemic as well and I am lucky enough to have been able to remain in that position. I have worked at an in person company, a hybrid company, and a fully remote company. I think what we are witnessing here is more of a labor negotiation and businesses navigating new trade offs they have to make.

It is difficult to measure employee productivity and in particular how productive employees will be after years of remote work. From my subjective experience, remote work is worse from a productivity standpoint and it is hard for me to imagine how it could not be. The communication bandwidth in person is just so much higher. Logistics around scheduling and communication are just way easier. I notice participation in and meaningful discussion in meetings is significantly higher in person. Psychologically, it is easier for me to be motivated and pay attention in person. I have heard others report this but it may just be a matter of personal preference.

That said, I like living where I live, I have connections here, and being asked to move for a job and start over is a massive ask. The older I get the more massive it will become. I would quit my job before relocating if that meant a pay cut. So my employer and I have conflicting interests. They would get more productivity from me if I relocated, but I don't want to.

I am not saying that I am valuable in particular, but there is a significant group of people like me that are part of a remote talent pool. This pool grew quite a bit during the pandemic giving us more leverage. By being willing to hire from this pool companies open themselves up to new talent, often at a better price than they could get in areas where talent is in higher demand. This is not just top talent but also affordable, solid talent. Some employees want to be able to work remotely and if you as a company are willing to deal with the challenges of remote work this can essentially be another form of compensation so you can hire talent you may not be able to otherwise afford.

Right now people are still experimenting and feeling around this new landscape. Companies are testing the water to see what they can get away with. There will probably be some growing pains before we reach a new equilibrium.