I don't want to be in the office 5d a week, but i also dont want to WFH 5d a week. I'd be happy with a 3/2 and could even live with a 4/1 schedule. I'm more focused in the office, but there are times i need a break.
We were told 5d, but there seems to be a bit of walking back. We'll see.
Even if I could WFH one day a week it would be life changing for me. One day a week that I don't have to commute, pack a lunch, be fully dressed up. MY GOODNESS, life changing.
Post by sarapocalypse on Nov 5, 2021 12:36:37 GMT -5
Yes, it would be a dealbreaker for me. I turned down a job offer just before Covid hit since teleworking was not a regular thing and I was in a job that allowed regular teleworking one day a week. Now that I've teleworked full-time through Covid, I cannot imagine going back into an office regularly. I now have a full-time telework agreement in place and am so happy. I save so much money on gas and not having to pay tolls. And my stress is greatly decreased. I have seen significant improvement in my blood pressure at my last couple of annual check-ups and have not made any other significant lifestyle changes beyond teleworking full-time.
My previous company took away all my WFH benefits in Jan. of 2021 - which says a lot about their culture. Their 'reasoning" not all employees can WFH so it's not fair. Up until then I WFH 2 days a week pre covid, fully remote from April 2020-June 2020, and then back to 2 days a week after that. I had been there 3 years.
It was totally a deal breaker and I quit in April 2021 and started a new job 2 weeks later that allows me to be fully remote if I want. But I do usually go into the office 1-2 days a week from 8-4. Best decision I ever made. I love my new company and the culture here.
Post by sparkythelawyer on Nov 5, 2021 16:05:46 GMT -5
I don't know that I would trust that any employer that is still partying like its 2019 with regards to in-office status would have any flexibility for things like sick kids, bad weather, contractors, etc.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Nov 5, 2021 18:00:23 GMT -5
I work in manufacturing and obviously most employees have the be there in person. I am in a support role but there is definitely a culture that supportnrol s need to be in. I agree with it, it's much more effective to be in person because we do a lot of collaboration.
It's also partially an equity issue like a PP mentioned.
I'm frankly thrilled that I get to wfh 1 day a week so I have a skewed perspective probably.
For me if the commute is reasonable all I need is the ability to wfh when I have a sick kid or plumber or whatever. I don't necessarily need to be officially X number of days a week.
I think it's so personal that you have to look at the individual situation.
I was self-employed and working from home exclusively for the past five years until I took a new full-time job a little over a month ago. I'm a UX designer and had been getting a lot of recruiter calls, and when one of the opportunities sounded really interesting and the money was good, I decided to call them back. The new job is currently remote but they're starting to transition people back to the office. All of my immediate team besides me is in our Seattle office, and broadening our team a step out nets only a couple more people in our Denver office that I don't work with on a day-to-day basis, so going into the office really doesn't benefit me much.
When I started, the office was being remodeled, and they asked if I wanted a permanent desk - so planning to come in every day - or a floating desk - planning to come in on a hybrid schedule. I opted for the flexibility of a hybrid schedule. And our team hasn't officially been called back yet, although the office has opened and a couple managers are calling into meetings from their office desks. But I'm looking forward to seeing people, since I've been by myself for quite a while. The company is still very "manage your own schedule, as long as you show up to meetings and get your work done" and very often they remind us to prioritize our health and families as needed. We'll see how it goes. It helps that the office is less than 15 minutes from our house.
I think it would be a dealbreaker for me to have to be in the office 5 days a week. I’ve only been back at work remotely for four months but if they made me go down there every day (an hour each way without traffic, and there’s always traffic), I would quit. I don’t need this job. Having the flexibility of not commuting allows me to both work (and I am 100% getting things done) and do the rest of “life” that makes it worth it - @kid/family stuff, volunteering, working out. If I went in every day I would lose the ability to do a lot of the other stuff and that’s a hard nope from me. .
Same. I was able to re-enter my career again this year thanks to the flexibility of a remote position. I can’t imagine my company would be able to retain employees if they forced us back 100%, as so many similar companies are now permanently remote. It’s a welcomed shift in work/life balance that’s brought experienced workers back into the game.
Edit: I still have days where I feel like I’m drowning, but it’s a much more sustainable and fulfilling pace of life.
I think it would be a dealbreaker for me to have to be in the office 5 days a week. I’ve only been back at work remotely for four months but if they made me go down there every day (an hour each way without traffic, and there’s always traffic), I would quit. I don’t need this job. Having the flexibility of not commuting allows me to both work (and I am 100% getting things done) and do the rest of “life” that makes it worth it - @kid/family stuff, volunteering, working out. If I went in every day I would lose the ability to do a lot of the other stuff and that’s a hard nope from me. .
Same. I was able to re-enter my career again this year thanks to the flexibility of a remote position. I can’t imagine my company would be able to retain employees if they forced us back 100%, as so many similar companies are now permanently remote. It’s a welcomed shift in work/life balance that’s brought experienced workers back into the game.
This is a great point.
@@@@ It also makes me wonder if that is part of the solution to the crisis of women, especially those with kids, leaving the workforce during the pandemic. Obviously being remote doesn’t solve everything, especially if childcare options continue to be abysmal, but for some of us working remotely or on a hybrid schedule permanently makes enough of a difference that it keeps people in the workforce who otherwise would have needed (or wanted and been able to) opt out.
I work in manufacturing and obviously most employees have the be there in person. I am in a support role but there is definitely a culture that supportnrol s need to be in. I agree with it, it's much more effective to be in person because we do a lot of collaboration.
I'm also in manufacturing but in a critical to operations role, meaning I've been on site as normal throughout the pandemic. I can tell you that once we started having our support functions back in, even part time, it was a huge relief. It made things so much harder, and honestly bred animosity, when part of our team was WFH and we were working our asses off on site. A lot of our support roles can be done mostly from home, but we still had to do things here to help them function at home on top of our regular jobs.
I totally don't begrudge any company that is 100% WFH. But I think in a situation where many or most of your employees have to be on site to do their jobs, you have to be careful about the flexiblity you offer everyone else.
The lack of flexibility would be a deal breaker for me. I'm also in higher ed and will echo some of the previous comments about it possibly being a larger sign of issues in the department or school.
There are a ton of higher ed MarComm jobs out there that are semi or fully remote so if you really want to get into that area and remote work is important, don't settle. The entire department at my previous institution is still completely remote with no plan to return.
I also just interviewed for a new role and one of the first things they told me was that they offer a semi remote schedule and that I would only need to be on campus 2 days a week. Employers know that these are things that candidates are looking for and that they will lose talent to more flexible organizations if they don't keep up with changing norms. I would be hesitant to take a position at a school which is trying to ignore this trend.
I’m also in higher ed in development. MarComm is part of our larger Advancement team. All of us are allowed flexible work arrangements right now. The agreements we just signed will be re-evaluated in July 2022, but our team has a task force that makes periodic recommendations based on surveys of the team and it appears we will not be required to be full time on campus ever. I go to campus 2-3 times a month based on events and meetings.
I’m also interviewing for two new jobs in higher ed at two different schools this week. One would require quarterly visits to campus. The other would be hybrid on campus twice a week. The hybrid one is only a 20 minute commute so I don’t mind that.
No flexibility, knowing that plenty of universities are offering it for jobs like you are looking at, would be a deal breaker for me.
ETA: the two jobs I am applying for straddle development and communications, so in the same general area of work you are looking at.
Post by redheadbaker on Nov 6, 2021 19:05:24 GMT -5
I talked to the parent of one of DS' soccer teammates who works there. He said it's not a university-wide ban, but it's a department-by-department guideline. IE, your department head and manager need to be ok with it.
I started my new job in June and I was thrilled to go into an office again. But it’s an easy 20 minute commute with free parking in the lot in front of the building in a beautiful section of the city. They had just returned full time to the office after 100% remote for a year+. Two weeks later they announced the option to work 2 days remote 3 days in office per week. Plus unlimited sick and they are very relaxed about extra remote days for quarantine. Holidays and sick days count as your “remote day”. So, if the office has a holiday on a Monday and you are sick on Tuesday, Wed-Friday should be “in office days”.
They absolutely did that because the remote year proved the work would get done and they wanted to be competitive with other employers offering remote benefits. It is definitely a benefit.
ETA: In fairness, I will add that the shift to remote work also drastically shifted the organization’s in-person presence with clients. There is now a heavy shift to Zoom trainings and meetings. This may continue to work well, maybe not. Several employees really miss the mileage checks.
Same. I was able to re-enter my career again this year thanks to the flexibility of a remote position. I can’t imagine my company would be able to retain employees if they forced us back 100%, as so many similar companies are now permanently remote. It’s a welcomed shift in work/life balance that’s brought experienced workers back into the game.
This is a great point.
@@@@ It also makes me wonder if that is part of the solution to the crisis of women, especially those with kids, leaving the workforce during the pandemic. Obviously being remote doesn’t solve everything, especially if childcare options continue to be abysmal, but for some of us working remotely or on a hybrid schedule permanently makes enough of a difference that it keeps people in the workforce who otherwise would have needed (or wanted and been able to) opt out.
Sorry to bump an old thread but I just saw this article shared by Elizabeth Warren and thought of your question
@moms with access to remote work were most likely to leave their jobs in pandemic, new research shows
@@@@ It also makes me wonder if that is part of the solution to the crisis of women, especially those with kids, leaving the workforce during the pandemic. Obviously being remote doesn’t solve everything, especially if childcare options continue to be abysmal, but for some of us working remotely or on a hybrid schedule permanently makes enough of a difference that it keeps people in the workforce who otherwise would have needed (or wanted and been able to) opt out.
Sorry to bump an old thread but I just saw this article shared by Elizabeth Warren and thought of your question
@moms with access to remote work were most likely to leave their jobs in pandemic, new research shows
This actually makes perfect sense now that I’m thinking about it more deeply.
I agree - naturally those women are the ones that had a real choice to quit in the first place. But I can bet that many of them won’t reenter the workforce without a remote option available.