Quit a job with a major US bank in 21Q3 because of their premature RTO push.
I never enjoyed going into an office especially once they converted our floor to be more open.
I also think hybrid could be an option for those who like going to an office each day. But, it shouldn't be mandatory. Businesses mandating RTO are waging a losing battle.
That is really the kicker. Forced return to office, but also, make the work environment worse with open-office layouts and maximum distractions.
I am not happy about it, but I will come into work when you make me. Just do not pretend it is about making me more productive. I am an IC, my job is to keep my head down and think. I do that best when I have walls and silence.
Open offices are a non-starter for me after I've seen the alternatives.
Going from an open office to a private office was really life changing for me. All of a sudden I had energy and focus left over after work to do things like exercise, develop friendships, learn new skills, etc. Perhaps with offices less full, more people will experience this.
Oh man, I once worked at a place where, for a time, all the programming staff got put on our own floor. JUST programmers. We didn't have managers (was a small company). It was seriously awesome. Not only was it really quiet, but basically all conversations were 100% "compatible" with how I was thinking. There were never people talking about some totally leftfield thing that totally threw me out of my focus zone (until a sales person would bring a client up to our floor to give a tour). It was a pretty unique experience. I don't think I've worked in any other office like that before or since.
Many major tech companies are simultaneously closing offices and densifying the remaining ones while telling folks they are required to attend. Some of those folks also no longer have dedicated desks. Good times.
Depends on the position. I worked at IBM in the late aughts and they has a daily office lease model where you could book an office to work in at most IBM facilities or work from home. It was essentially non-mandatory hybrid-- people who did things like support for overseas customers never ever came into the office because requiring them to come into the office was stupid. An SSH session and company-provided phone in the office look exactly like they do at home. People like pre-sales, sales, product managers, engineering managers, etc. that had to do more meeting and planning than individual work came into the office every day because it worked better for them. There was no real reason they couldn't be remote and conduct all of their business over the phone-- the business was completely set up for it-- they just weren't as productive that way. It really wasn't a problem.
I never enjoyed going into an office especially once they converted our floor to be more open.
I also think hybrid could be an option for those who like going to an office each day. But, it shouldn't be mandatory. Businesses mandating RTO are waging a losing battle.
Great post, OP!