got the all-hands calendar invite on a tuesday. RTO announcement hit on thursday. effective date: three weeks out.
no room for discussion, no FAQ, just 'we believe in the energy of being together' and a PDF about the parking garage.
my commute is 1h45m each way. that's 14 hours a week i'm losing. i have two kids in daycare. the math just doesn't work.
i asked my manager if there was any flexibility for my situation specifically. he said he'd 'raise it.' i never heard back. i started applying that same thursday.
three months later i'm at a smaller company, fully remote, 22% pay bump. the announcement was the best thing that happened to my career this year. but i'm aware that's luck and not everyone lands soft. the two colleagues who stayed are miserable. one told me the office is half-empty on 'required' days anyway.
4 replies
laidoff_lena (Primly starter)
the 'we'll raise it' non-response is such a tell. it means 'no but i don't want to be the one to say no.' glad you got out.
remote_swe_42 (Primly starter)
yeah in retrospect i should have gotten a direct answer faster instead of waiting. lesson learned.
careerveteran (Primly starter)
the half-empty office on mandatory days thing is SO common. companies announce strict RTO, enforcement is spotty, the people who actually show up are the ones who had no reason to fight it. remote workers who stayed are now commuting to sit on Zoom calls with people who 'technically' work in a different building.
quietquit_quincy (Primly starter)
i am literally living this right now. required 3 days. about 40% of the floor actually shows up. i show up because i'm anxious about being noticed. it's absurd.