Work-From-Office Mandate? Expect Top Talent Turnover, Culture Rot (cio.com)
- Reference: 0180651192
- News link: https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/01/24/2146216/work-from-office-mandate-expect-top-talent-turnover-culture-rot
- Source link: https://www.cio.com/article/4119562/work-from-office-mandate-expect-top-talent-turnover-culture-rot.html
> "In addition to resistance, there would also be the risk of [2]talent turnover ," [says Lawrence Wolfe, CTO at marketing firm Converge]... "The truth is, both physical and virtual collaboration provide tremendous value...." IT workers facing work-from-office mandates are two to three times more likely than their counterparts to look for new jobs, according to Metaintro, a search engine that tracks millions of jobs. IT leaders hiring new employees may also face significant headwinds, with it taking 40% to 50% longer to fill in-person roles than remote jobs, according to Metaintro. "Some of the challenges CIOs face include losing top-tier talent, limiting the pool of candidates available for hire, and damaging company culture, with a team filled with resentment," says Lacey Kaelani, CEO and cofounder at Metaintro...
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> There are several downsides for IT leaders to in-person work mandates, [adds Lena McDearmid, founder and CEO of culture and leadership advisory firm Wryver], as orders to commute to an office can feel arbitrary or rooted in control rather than in value creation. "That erodes trust quickly, particularly in IT teams that proved they could deliver remotely for years," she adds. The mandates can also create new friction for IT leaders by requiring them to deal with morale issues, manage exceptions, and spend time enforcing policy instead of leading strategy, she says. "There's also a real risk of losing experienced, high-performing talent who have options and are unwilling to trade autonomy for proximity without a clear reason," McDearmid adds. "When companies mandate daily commutes without a clear rationale, they often narrow their talent pool and increase attrition, particularly among people who know they can work effectively elsewhere."
McDearmid has seen teams "sitting next to each other" who collaborate poorly "because decisions are unclear or leaders equate visibility with progress... Collaboration doesn't automatically improve just because people share a building."
And Rebecca Wettemann, CEO at IT analyst firm Valoir, warns of return-to-office mandates "being used as a Band-Aid for poor management. When IT professionals feel they're being evaluated based on badge swipes, not real accomplishments, they will either act accordingly or look to work elsewhere."
Thanks to Slashdot reader [3]snydeq for sharing the article.
[1] https://www.cio.com/article/4119562/work-from-office-mandate-expect-top-talent-turnover-culture-rot.html
[2] https://www.computerworld.com/article/3957380/one-in-six-workers-would-quit-if-forced-to-return-to-office.html
[3] https://www.slashdot.org/~snydeq
Work from home in bad weather (Score:3)
My work sent out an email on Friday saying anyone who physically reports to the office at several locations would not have to report on Monday or Tuesday due to incoming snowstorm. However, the email also stated that anyone who teleworked was required to work on Monday or Tuesday or use leave to take those days off.
Guess who is upset they have to work on Monday and Tuesday.
Re: (Score:3)
> Guess who is upset they have to work on Monday and Tuesday.
An hour-long commute (one-way) for a person working full-time (not unrealistic given average traffic burden and the distance one can afford housing in relation to a decent paying job), equates to two hours every day sitting behind a steering wheel.
Ten hours every week. An entire workweek wasted sitting behind a steering wheel every month. An entire fiscal quarter, wasted every year.
Guess who's not too upset about a temporary inconvenience in the big picture. Did I forget to mention they also didn't put $
Re: (Score:2)
Did I forget to mention they also didn't put $200 worth of RTO gas in their cars this month?
What vehicle are you driving that you put $200 worth of gas in each month, a gas-guzzling pickup truck? You're getting paid to come to work whether you drive, take a train, bus, or taxi. It's always been like that. Besides, with all the people now driving electric or electric hybrids, they're not paying anywhere near that amount to go to work.
But thanks for missing the point.
Re: (Score:2)
"2025 mileage rates Self-employed and business: 70 cents/mile"
My commute used to use 9 gallons a week and at $4 per gallon (thanks Seattle Democrats) or $144 per month. That doesn't include tires and such.
At IRS rates and a 56 mile round trip per day that's $784 per month which must be depreciation on a Tesla.
Re: (Score:2)
I work from home normally, but damn if the office workers couldn't make it to the office (which would realistically require an Earthquake) they still just work from home. But also nobody here works from office 5 days a week - exceptions being staff who's job is physical like data center staff.
It depends (Score:4, Insightful)
A company implementing a "return to office" mandate, without any other consideration, will both lose top talent and lose dead weight.
Top talent loves working from home, dead weight loves working from home as well.
The elephant in the room: Managers can't differentiate between the two.
Re: (Score:3)
If I were Dead weight I would probably stay and commute knowing three things
1) I can manage to be dead weight here but what are the chances another company will just let me slide in and slack as soon as I get hired? The lazier deadweightier option is to stick to it
2) When the other people leave my positon here is more secure.
3) Its actually easier to do nothing at the office, because there's so much other junk going on, more meetings that kinda looks like work, more socializing that kinda looks like work.If
Re: (Score:2)
I have always preferred going to the work site and working, so that there is a clear delineation b/w work and home. Somehow, working at home, the demarcation looks fuzzy
When my kid was a toddler, there were some occasions when I worked from home, so that I could free his mom up for tasks she needed to do, while I took care of him. Other than that, I have only worked from home when I needed to have international conference calls w/ colleagues in Japan, which for me was past midnight. Otherwise, I prefer
Re: (Score:1)
While not even the office dress code requires a shirt and tie, I still wear them when WFH, as well as smart trousers. At the end of my working day I change into casual clothes. That's how I delimit being "at work" and being "at home".
Re: (Score:2)
I work with someone that does this. I've never been on a video call with this person where he hasn't been wearing a suit, in his home office. I have my camera disabled in the BIOS and I am working on my 6th pair of socks and 3rd bathrobe. I haven't dressed for work in my home office ever, and I've been working from home for thirteen years.
Re: (Score:2)
I like your style. But how's the missus?
Re: (Score:1)
RTO mandates don't fix bad management - they just ensure that the only people left in the building are the ones who have nowhere else to go.
Duh (Score:2)
But somehow I expect CEOs will not listen to the obvious being stated time and again. They are certainly not smart enough to recognize it themselves.
This always the case (Score:4, Informative)
During many rounds of voluntary incentives, I watched the good people go and the weak people say.
This just a different type of incentive.
Tokyo (Score:3)
Reasons people want to work from home in the US:
- Commuting cost savings
- Commuting stress
- Commuting time savings
- Comfortable home working environment
- Undesirable office working environment
Interestingly these are not quite the same in Tokyo:
- Commuting cost savings - [N/A] The company pays for commuting costs
- Commuting stress - [Similar] "Traffic" stress replaced by crowded train stress
- Commuting time savings - [Similar]. Although Tokyo commute times are more predictable.
- Comfortable home working environment - [Worse] Less spacious Tokyo homes means less comfortable home working environment
- Undesirable office working environment - [Better] Tokyo office and after work city life is more appealing than some industrial park office
Re: Tokyo (Score:2)
You missed one: taking care of family.
I have an elderly father, who is doing pretty good for his age, but is unable to live by himself. I was luckily enough to talk my boss into full time remote work. It makes a huge difference in my fatherâ(TM)s life.
Re: (Score:2)
> You missed one: taking care of family.
> I have an elderly father, who is doing pretty good for his age, but is unable to live by himself. I was luckily enough to talk my boss into full time remote work. It makes a huge difference in my fatherâ(TM)s life.
Good point.
And respect to both you and your boss.
Re: Tokyo (Score:2)
I appreciate you helping your dad but let's be honest - you shouldn't really be doing on your work time, unless you always make up your hours to the amount you're contracted for.
Re: (Score:2)
This is the US. And exempt people are by definition not contracted for a certain number of hours.
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The point is that while he is working, he is physically close to his father. So if any problems arise, he can act immediately.
If you work IT (Score:2)
If you are an IT worker most of your work hours are going to be spent sitting in a chair in front of a keyboard and a monitor. Maybe just a laptop, maybe several screens, and you gotta come up with some software there. If you have to drive in and work in a bullpen office environment it will be much the same scenario. People are mainly just trying to get their work done with the computer interfaces in front of them.
But on the other hand there reportedly are those who work multiple jobs remotely without the e
Most companies ignore it (Score:2)
When the top talent works from home 5 days a week or more. Initially return to office mandates existed because commercial real estate values were plummeting but it didn't take very much forced labor to fix that. Now they're just used for stealth layoffs.
RTO is a form of attrition (Score:2)
CEOs are unconcerned about employee retention. They just want to reduce labour costs for their shareholders.
Consistent work environment (Score:3)
What matters for me the most while working remotely is being at the same desk every day, with all the little things that help me stay focused and productive. Same screens, same positions, same landscape. Same chair, same comfortable lightning. No needless commotion and passing shadows. An environment where I can feel psychologically familiar with the surroundings and be actually be productive.
Fuck hot-desking with insufficient screens, new seat and a new problem every day. And if you get in even 15 minutes late, all the best spots are gone.
Who's top talent? (Score:2)
Since forever and way before the pandemic, truly top talent has been able to work from home or wherever they want. But that's only for truly top talent where the guy would be hired even if there's no position. Most people who think they're top talent actually aren't because the company can find other people who are equally competent.
Might all be true. (Score:2)
But unfortunately today the swing of the pendulum is granting the power to the employer. As industries collapse and jobs are wiped out at all seniority levels, the flood of available talent makes going elsewhere more difficult. Even the best may be reluctant to take a stand against things like return to office mandates.
No problem (Score:2)
AI is going to replace all these folks within the next 5 years anyway, right? /sarc
If LLMs and whatever successors come along are as good as the tech bros keep telling us, most programmers and managers will be replaced by machines and WFH won't be an issue.
Conversely, if there's a panic around losing workers because of back-to-the-office mandates, then the C-levels in those companies must not have very much confidence in the AIs they're trying to shove down everyone's throats. That would suggest that a lot
CEOs don't listen to experts (Score:4, Insightful)
And they *certainly* don't listen to their people.
Well, unless they say what the CEO already thinks.
Re: (Score:2)
If it's good for the stock price, the MBAs will do it. They'll exercise their options and be long gone before the damage becomes obvious.
On Friday I had to drive into the office at -34C to make Teams calls to the rest of my team who live hundreds of miles away. But I probably added 0.0000001 cent to the stock price by doing so.
Re: (Score:2)
nope, because the cost of maintaining a building or renting space is a huge negative that can be removed from the books. Where as employee cost cannot.