Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026 • Hacker News Board

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#371

Post by IAmBroom » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:00 PM UTC

redhale wrote: post #350

makingstuffs wrote: post #194

Reading all of these takes stating WFH leads to poor productivity simply doesn’t make sense to me. If your employees cannot be trusted to fulfil their responsibilities (whether in an office, their home or a tent in a woodland) that is not a geographical issue. It is a mentality issue and you are always going to face productivity issue from that employee regardless of from where they work. I’ve been told time and time…

Congrats on your work ethic. But consider that this may simply not be the case for every working adult on earth, and may not even be true for every working adult in your company. Not everyone is like you. I am, but I know people (some of whom are former and current coworkers) who are much more easily distracted, and are meaningfully less able to compete their work in a timely manner when they work from home. I'll pro…

You raise an interesting point. No downvote from me, although I'm firmly in the WFH camp.

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#372

Post by IAmBroom » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

solumunus wrote: post #272

alsetmusic wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My previous employer ran an experiment. They had us come in two days per week for six weeks and ran the numbers. We ended up going 100% wfh with a downsized office. We been planning to double our office capacity before the pan. I’m convinced that more than half of orgs would see similar numbers if they cared to look. I bet a bunch of the ones mandating RTO see them but do it anyway.

The market will solve this problem eventually. In industries where WFH is more efficient, eventually the companies that go that route will outperform their peers. It’s inevitable really. It will take time because companies feel the need to use their offices while they have an ongoing lease, but when it comes time to renew the savings are difficult to ignore.

Ah, the Efficient Market Hypothesis, applied to labor.

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#373

Post by seanmcdirmid » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:12 PM UTC

amrocha wrote: post #320

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are offices where I definitely feel productive. Today’s tight open offices just are not those places.

I don’t know what you mean by today’s because most companies I’ve worked at have had pretty nice offices. Even the open space ones were quiet and spacious. The one exception was a startup at an incubator.

My last office job was in an old converted garment factory. Lots of space, we had our own desks. It was really nice. Sharing a table with someone is not as nice, and office mates are rarely tolerant of my model M keyboard.

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#374

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:13 PM UTC

array_key_first wrote: post #352

Nextgrid wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I don't get people who quit when RTO or unreasonable changes are made. Quitting makes it easy for them and means they stop paying you now. Letting them fire you means at worst you end up with the same outcome, at best you call their bluff and get paid a few months more (or forever).

Yeah but RTO takes real time and money. Sure you can earn a paycheck, but if you're commuting 2 hours a day total, you're still losing those 2 hours until they fire you. And that kind of stinks. And that's assuming you don't need to move. Moving for a job you hate is the worst.

I think the suggestion is just ignoring the RTO mandate and continuing to work remote, until they fire you for insubordination.

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#375

Post by array_key_first » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:19 PM UTC

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #132

ribosometronome wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>As a hiring manager ... it’s a little too much “doth protest”. Have you considered evaluating your own beliefs with this perspective?

That’s a fancy “no u” but it doesn’t make any sense. I have remote employees, and I have people I would never allow WFH because they can’t handle it. I don’t care what you do. I’m explaining from the position of someone responsible for a team that MANY people who are strictest about WFH being absolute are the people abusing it. This shouldn’t even be remotely controversial… yet… all I see is more protest and digital…

You're a hiring manager, obviously your perspective is warped. Naturally you want good little code monkeys who will sit at a desk and pump out code.

Nobody steps back and asks - wait, is that good? Is there a point where "productivity" becomes negative because we're pumping out shitty half-baked code from a workforce who despises everything the company stands for? Nobody asks, is it possible that employees who contemplate suicide every day might not make the best product. ?

No. They don't. It's work, work, work and the end result is a piece of software so unbelievably shitty and barely functional that you require a commission-based Salesforce of sleezebags to sell it to some poor soul who doesn't know the difference between Git and GitHub.

Ultimately, and I know this is very old-fashioned, your company IS your workforce. Keeping them happy makes a good product and keeps the profits flowing. Every company in the Golden Age of the American economy knew that. Few remember it.

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#376

Post by citrin_ru » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:20 PM UTC

rcbdev wrote: post #217

subw00f wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would take a lower comp for remote work and a better work environment. They will never pay me the amount that would make me choose 2h in traffic everyday instead of having enough time to cook breakfast to my family, take my kids to school, have lunch with my wife, etc.

Every time I hear U.S. commute times, I keep thinking they must be grossly overstated. How is your infrastructure so inadequate for... living?

Long commutes are not unique to the US. I'm spending 1.5 hours one way in the UK. It's depend on your personal circumstances. If you are young and single it's usually possible to rent a studio or a room with reasonable commute time. E. g. if you have a family and/or own a house then moving close to the office in response to RTO mandate may not be an option.

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#377

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:29 PM UTC

VirusNewbie wrote: post #197

venturecruelty wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there's a five-letter scare word you're not allowed to say that would be required for tech workers to have any power over their managers, but that sort of collective action is dead on arrival in the current milieu. If you don't want to go back into the office, you have the power to enforce that, but you have to like... work together.

no one wants to work at shops that actually have unions compared to other places. it's just silly to actually suggest it makes things better.

[citation needed]

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#378

Post by amrocha » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:34 PM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #373

amrocha wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know what you mean by today’s because most companies I’ve worked at have had pretty nice offices. Even the open space ones were quiet and spacious. The one exception was a startup at an incubator.

My last office job was in an old converted garment factory. Lots of space, we had our own desks. It was really nice. Sharing a table with someone is not as nice, and office mates are rarely tolerant of my model M keyboard.

So you’re the reason the office is noisy hahaha

Hope you can find something that suits you!

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#379

Post by eudamoniac » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:41 PM UTC

When I worked from home I did about 10 hours of work per week. I am in a niche field and good enough at my job that my managers didn't realize. When I'm at the office, I can't do much else, so I work full days. I can't believe I'm very unique in this regard. Plenty of people will slack off as much as they possibly can while staying above the PIP line, and it's easier to do that at home.

Re: Instagram chief orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026

#380

Post by bpt3 » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

jimkleiber wrote: post #296

fijiaarone wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tech workers used to not be average people.

The film industry has a lot of unions as well, including for their "above average" people (writers, actors, etc.)

I think most engineers/developers/scientists would welcome, or at least be fine with, being a member of a guild like writers and actors. Their parent poster is suggesting that a traditional US union is the way, which I personally don't agree with and don't think I am unique in that regard.