Ordered back to office, top tech talent left instead, study finds
In months following #returntooffice mandates, an increased number of senior employees departed Apple, Microsoft and SpaceX, often to work for competitors.
"Our findings suggest that #RTO mandates cost the company more than previously thought," said David Van Dijcke, Univ of Michigan researcher on the study. "These attrition rates aren't just something that can be managed away." https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/05/12/rto-microsoft-apple-spacex/ https://archive.ph/RGar1
"Return-to-office mandates at some of the most powerful #tech companies — #Apple, #Microsoft and #SpaceX — were followed by a spike in departures among the most senior, tough-to-replace talent...
“We find experienced #employees impacted by these policies at major #tech companies seek #work elsewhere, taking some of the most valuable human capital investments and tools of #productivity with them,” said... one of the study’s authors.
"“Our findings suggest that #RTO mandates cost the company more than previously thought... These attrition rates aren’t just something that can be managed away.”...
A spike in departures of senior employees... could reflect the “double-pinch” they inflict on managers, who have to deal with the policy’s effects on the teams they lead & in their own lives...
it’s also just a hit to morale...
Maybe managers leave shortly after mandates... “because it’s easier to manage a team that’s happy.”
"Return-to-office mandates at some of the most powerful tech companies — Apple, Microsoft and SpaceX — were followed by a spike in departures among the most senior, tough-to-replace talent."
And regarding managers, one person posits: "Maybe managers leave shortly after mandates ... 'because it’s easier to manage a team that’s happy.'"
Study on return-to-office mandates gets international attention | University Times | University of Pittsburgh
"The results showed that while many of the companies said they were bringing employees back to the office to improve the bottom line, there were no significant changes in financial performance or firm values after the mandates were implemented. But there was a sharp decrease in employees’ job satisfaction."
It’s so frustrating to hear a boss say “we want to make #RTO fun and desirable” but when you ask for furniture that is actually comfortable “upgraded furniture isn’t in the budget at this time”.
🙄 it costs you nothing to let me work from home with my own furniture
With the « news » that 3 days back in the office is looming, I’m pleased to report that in the 455 days since our mandated return to office, I have spent $0.00 supporting businesses on office days and riding my bike is free.
This rate of spending will continue no matter how many days they force us to return.
I can keep this up until I retire.
And probably will because I couldn’t afford it even if I wanted to now. Thanks, #GalenWeston.
@johnefrancis@DEWLine shit. Im sorry John. My dad picked up a bad cough while he was here… no one else seems to… but there’s an outbreak at the blind River hospital too.
As a 10-year veteran of #remote#collaboration, when COVID-19 struck and everybody went remote, I thought that this would invalidate my USP, my key differentiator.
Boy was I wrong.
After three years of remote work my assumption was that everyone would have learned to excel remotely. I was wrong. So so wrong.
I think a part of the exec's hard push for #RTO is the understanding that many organisations' 'remote culture' was just lipstick on the pig of their in-office culture.
We have a "two days in office" rule - they check how often we are logged into Wifi. Some now, just jogging by offices once a day with their Hardware connecting to the Wifi. Others had already ideas like small mobile device (Raspberry) put to the locker in the office and connecting once in a while to the Wifi. Just needs a proper powerbank and then go to offices is only once in a month to charge the battery.
Desperate to hold onto their ever-shrinking workforce, but still unwilling to walk back their ignorance and lose face, Dell management thinks, “hey, let's screw our healthiest, most productive employees using whatever leverage we have left,” is the way?
@sb@trendless Stuff like air quality monitoring, filtration and good ventilation should be long hanging fruit which shouldn't annoy the "I don't want to a wear a mask" contingent. Same with paid sick leave of a scientifically appropriate period (10+ days) following confirmed infection. Stuff like free repeat workplace testing following confirmed exposure should imo be in there too.
@sb@trendless High quality masks should also be paid for by employers for those who want to use them and formal fit testing should be part of that process.
Study after study shows remote workers are at least as productive as in-office ones. Many show remote workers are more productive.
So why do so many employers want to drag people back to the office? It's almost like there's something that's even more important to them than productivity. cough control cough