Office Mandates to Return to the Office Hit Hard.
One ordinary Thursday in November 2023, our CEO surprised us with news of a return to the office.
Remote screens, once filled with happy faces, turned to profile pictures. Side chats buzzed with discussions, and tears flowed for a reason – mine is a story of a unique work-from-home journey.
In between tears, frantic text messages to my husband, and an extra pot of coffee I began my research. Can my company make me come back to the office? Google’s answer – “Yes”
Why would the boss want me back in the office? Determination – “because he can”
Do I have any recourse to being summoned back to the office? Internet – “no”
Slowly the realization that as with most of my career life, I once again became a number.
How My Remote Journey Started:
Seven years ago, as office space dwindled, I volunteered to be part of the pioneering at-home workforce. Little did I know, this early push set the stage for the company’s success during the looming pandemic. Our remote experience laid the foundation for a smooth transition that not only ensured survival but fueled growth.
What are the implied loses of going back to the office:
Now, facing a return, I weigh the losses: flexible schedule, work-life balance, and the ease of caring for an elderly parent.
But my primary fear isn’t the usual suspects; it’s the toxic office environment left behind. Ironically, the company cited community and collaboration as reasons for our return. Community? We don’t live in the same place. My communitity was filled with sexism, racism, agism and toxicity.
This return threatens to reintroduce me to a toxic office culture filled with discrimination, sexism, and ageism. Working from home shielded me from office gossip and retribution. The prospect of returning to this environment overshadows the promised benefits of community and collaboration, making the transition a bitter experience.
In short, the return to the office, meant to foster community and collaboration, stirs mixed emotions due to the stark contrast between these ideals and the reality of a previously toxic workplace.
I wish Mr. CEO could understand we don’t all live in the same neighborhood. While he may walk into the building to a rock star entrance. some of us will be met with free pizza and the anxiety of what’s to come.
Who Suffers Most When Being Called Back to The Office?
It’s this Genxer’s opinion that it’s the employees who stepped up in tough times that will suffer the most. It’s the mom who worked tirelessly to keep the company going while her children needed to be home from school.
Sure Mr. CEO will say, but it was them who allowed that paycheck to flow. Well, I respectfully disagree, it was that overwhelmed Mom who got up every morning to make sure the company survived.
It’s the older employees, like myself, that came to work, while Mr. CEO was desperate to fill vacancies left by those who jumped ship to double their salaries elsewhere.
It’s women, men, LGPTQ, and everyone who did what was asked of them. The ones that remodeled rooms in their home to make space for productive workstations.
Concluding
On April 1st, 2024 this 7-year work-from-home employee will conclude the work-at-home experiment failed. Not because we did anything wrong, certainly not that it was not of benefit to the company. No, it failed since we underestimated the need of those in control to have exactly that – Control.
For those wondering – I will be returning to the office. I’ll eat the free pizza, set up my desk, and continue with life the way I had prior.
At least I know in this op -ed I was able to say my peace.
For some lighthearted reading and fun, be sure to check out one of my most popular posts – Side Effects of Working for a Call Center!
Forbes Magazine has one of the best op-eds I’ve read on the subject. This author wrote this idea so much more eloquently than I did – Read You want your employees back in the office – but why?
The statistics of The Work At Home & why calling workers back makes no sense.
A study by Standford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increase productivity by 13%
Research shows that businesses lose $600 billion a year to workplace distractions. Additionally, offering remote work helps reduce attrition and unscheduled absences and increases productivity.
Studies have also shown a reduction in workplace discrimination, and sexual harassment when workers are remote.
