We’re now finding out the damaging results of the mandated return to the office

Although I haven't seen any transmission from RTO requirements where I'm at, I would assume that it would fall as a symptom of the overall lack of autonomy that the mandates create.

Management still have no visibility, because there isn't a field in the resignation form for "you create a terrible environment with your open plan office".

How dare they breathe the air and spread their highly transmissible virus, like has happened for eons! Then again, why would you choose to breathe in their sickness? Were you not wearing 3 masks and keeping 3 meters distance? Did they make you come to work? Call the tribunal, we must get to the bottom of this, as soon as we've uncovered what causes rectal itch from the office chairs!

no one needs to convince you. they'll just leave. they won't say a word.

yeah, this… the only reason my company can get me to come in at all is that they put me and another quiet guy in a somewhat isolated room with a door. it’s not perfect, especially when the office is relatively full, but it’s better than an open floor plan.

This. Even for a couple of days a week, open working area has a severe impact on my headspace. I basically need a weekend not doing anything to reset from it.

Why would they do this? Every good manager knows that having a noisy open office plan where you can hear every conversation in the office at once improves productivity exponentially because of collaboration.

/s

My perceptions is zero, based on a small sampling of megacorps that account for a significant percentage of tech employment.

Before the pandemic they were doing hotel seating and encouraging work from home and had reduced floor plans with smaller open seats that were not dedicated. They were internally discussing “BYOO,” or bring your own office and strangling corporate leased/owned space until it was only used for crucial in person meetings, interactions, and roles that had to be in the office for regulatory or practical purposes.

The pandemic forces that so suddenly that C suite folks freaked out and saw the way they came up ending. They saw an erosion of the culture and company they fostered and had a strong emotional response in the other direction.

During the pandemic no one accelerated real estate acquisition or reversed the BYOO squeeze policies. Now they are struggling seating people on the mandatory policies. Everything is the same - too few seats, hotel seating, smaller desk footprints, floor plans as open as the Montana sky. Morale is about zero. As compliance rates are around 30% at most large megacorps mandating in office N days a week management is increasingly becoming aggressive and oppressive. Attrition has been pretty low owing to the spring tech apocalypse, spurring increasing aggressiveness by management. But - hiring will pick up in 1Q2024 through 3Q24 as the mirage recession fails the materialize. Whether you believe in it or not funding is flowing for AI and that’ll further improve tech employment, especially as interest rates stabilize.

I was until recently a senior leader at one of the largest of the large megacorps with draconian RTOO policies. Myself I left a few weeks ago because they asked me to come in five days a week and joined a late stage startup being paid more, with more interesting work, and no mandatory in office.

If they value controlling my body over my contribution then they can have neither.

Mine is doing the opposite. Moving us all to a new building that does away with offices in favor of an open floor plan.

Real estates in cities will decrease in value anyway as supercell Flash floods increase?

Lots of discussion earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36956747