Workers at tech companies across the U.S. are quitting their jobs over return-to-office mandates, citing a variety of reasons, including family obligations, long commutes, and concerns about productivity.
In August 2023, Grindr announced that it would be requiring employees to return to the office two days per week. This news led to a mass exodus of employees, with nearly 45% of the company’s 178 employees quitting their jobs.
Employees at other tech companies, including Google, Amazon, and Zoom, have also staged walkouts and written letters to executives in protest of return-to-office mandates.
Some workers say that they are simply more productive working from home. Elizabeth Bassett, a former global head of creative marketing at Argus Media, said that she resigned from her job in May 2022 after being required to return to the office two to three days per week. Bassett said that most of her day was spent on Zoom and that she found it difficult to do focus work in the office.
Other workers say that they cannot afford to return to the office due to childcare costs or long commutes. Kisha Velazquez, a former director of content marketing at Joonko, said that she quit her job because she could not afford to pay for childcare while working in the office. Velazquez also said that she wanted to be more present in her son’s life.
Some workers also believe that return-to-office mandates are discriminatory against women and other workers with family obligations.
Prithwiraj Choudhury, a Harvard Business School professor who studies the future of work, said that companies should provide overall guidance that allows each employee to determine how they best work after analysis and feedback from workers. C
houdhury said that this is especially important for women, whom he said are resigning in large numbers from tech companies due to return-to-office mandates.
The sources for this piece include an article in Yahoo.