Well that was fast!
Thanks to all who had such positive feedback on my original post. I appreciated all the kind and supportive responses!
As a quick TL;DR my company sent some conflicting communications around return to office, eventually landing on guidance that “all employees must return to office in the next 2 weeks, or they would be terminated”. I decided to call their bluff by telling my boss directly that I would not be returning to the office.
Many replies on my first post seemed very worried that I didn't have any backup plan, that I was relying on my coworkers quitting in solidarity, on me getting severance, etc etc etc. Despite the fact that I did have a backup plan, did not rely on my coworkers quitting in solidarity, or on getting severance. Well thankfully, none of those issues are of any concern now as I'll explain below.
On Friday of last week my boss sent a calendar invitation for a skype call on Monday the 14th with him, his boss, and the head of HR for the whole company. I was terrified. I assumed the worst and that I would be fired on Monday.
In anticipation of the call I put together a breakdown of how much more work I'd taken on over the last 2 years, how difficult it had been to backfill vacated positions, and the various forms of positive feedback I'd received in the same time, mostly in the form of emails and written reviews. This helped relieve some of the anxiety, and I scheduled a lunch on Saturday with a close friend in the same field as mine to get his advice on how to handle the meeting on Monday. More on this lunch later.
The meeting yesterday started off with a bang, with my boss's boss saying he was “very disappointed” that I was refusing to return to the office. He explained that office culture is an extremely important part of how the employees perform, and that being in the office was of utmost importance to continued growth. He added a few details about how working in the office is actually better for everyone's motivation, that the commute serves as some good personal time for reflection, and that without the camaraderie of the office the company wouldn't be able to survive long-term. He finished by saying “this is all why we are recommending that you as well as all of our employees return to office full-time in the last week of March.”
The “recommending” bit struck me as odd. Was this a recommendation or a requirement? Either way I went into my planned spiel on how valuable I was to the company, how much work I'd taken on over the last 2 years, how difficult it had been to backfill vacated positions, and the specific processes that would be late/incomplete and with noone to take them over if I were let go of. As I was laying out my position I noticed a change in my boss's face. I'm not sure what specifically he was thinking, but it seemed to dawn on him at that moment just how difficult things would be if they lost me. I ended my piece by saying that I would not be returning to the office, and would continue to work from home as I have for the last 2 years. My boss immediately jumped in to say they would need to discuss with HR on ways to resolve the situation, but that they appreciated my time and I would hear from them by the end of the day.
Now what they didn't and don't know is that I have a new job lined up already. To backtrack, the friend I had lunch with on Saturday works for what is considered in our field to be the best employer by a long shot. I had told him before that if any opportunities ever opened up at his company to let me know and I would apply.
Before I could even explain my predicament with him, my friend told me that his boss was retiring and that he had been chosen to take over his role. This meant he would be more or less in charge of filling his former position, and told me that he'd like me to take it. His company offers better benefits than mine, higher compensation, a better retirement plan, and truly flexible office hours. The only downside is that the job doesn't start until September.
I'm still shocked. This job wasn't even on my radar, and the offers I've received over the last two years were from companies that I would consider to be inferior. I told him I would love to take the job, and explained my situation in full. I asked how likely it was that I would get the job if I applied, and he told me he'd need to talk to HR and his boss but it was likely a sure thing.
So anyway yesterday after my meeting with management I submitted my application to the other company. Just after 5PM I got an email from my boss saying that they'd reached a decision and that I would not be required in the office at all. They were bluffing. He also added that he'd like to take some of the tasks I was solely responsible for and move them to other team members. So I get to work from home and I have less work to do. Great.
The last piece here is that I got a call from my friend this morning who told me that my application had been accepted and I would be receiving an offer stipulating my start date in September. Lastly he said my future employer was giving me a signing bonus to help support me in my 6 months without employment.
In the meantime I'll share my negotiation experience with my team members, all of whom have similar leverage and tenures. I believe this will be a big improvement to their working conditions as well, and I'm very happy how this has gone. I definitely don't think my story is the standard of how these things will shake out, but I do think it indicates that workers are now more empowered than they have been over the last decade.
Oh and lastly as a reminder: Newsweek's Chief Content Officer was, according to Buzzfeed news, fired from his job at Reuters over sexual harrassment allegations!
Thanks everybody!