I quit my job today because my employer decided to mandate that everyone return to the office. We have been fully remote since the start of COVID and no real explanation for why we had to go back in was provided. I asked but was flat out told that no exceptions would be made.
I wrote this letter/essay about making a case for remote work and attached it as part of my resignation. I'm sure it will just be tossed into the trash without a second thought but I thought at least you all might appreciate it.
“To whom it may concern:
I hope [company] will reconsider its Return to Office requirements for both the well-being of its employees and the future of the company. Prior to COVID, there were justifiable reasons not to allow employees to work from home, namely the expense of providing equipment and concerns about the accountability of employees. But in early 2020, the world was thrust into a global pandemic that necessitated the ability to work remotely for practically any and every job that could accommodate it – that includes most back-office roles at [company], including [my role/department]. Now that COVID appears to be winding down, companies are faced with a choice: continue with the new status quo of working from home, or require employees to return to the office part- or full-time.
From the perspective of those of us on the ground-level, the decision to needlessly force employees back into an office (when the functions of their role do not require it) signifies a complete lack of respect and concern for the well-being of those who propel practically all aspects of the company.
First, there is no further expense to [company] to allow employees to continue working from home – [company] doesn't reimburse its employees for home internet or electricity, but [company] assumes these costs and countless other unnecessary overhead expenses by sending employees back into an office (e.g. toilet paper, subsidized cafeteria food, etc). Additionally, the infrastructure required for employees to work from home is already in place – I am typing this email from my [company]-supplied laptop, for example.
Second, [company] employees (not to mention employees at the countless other companies that were unexpectedly thrust into WFH situations) have now proven that we can, in fact, work responsibly from home. [company] leadership frequently applauds the impressive recent performance of the company, but this performance does not happen in a vacuum. In order to attain this growth, [company] employees worked harder than ever, even amid the uncertainties of lockdowns, tragic losses of the lives of loved ones, and countless other stressors and outside distractions that COVID caused us all to experience. [company] employees propelled the company's financial performance and growth beyond even that of its peers as measured at FYE 2021, and for those whose positions could accommodate it, the work was all completed from home.
Third, and perhaps the most egregious, is the simple fact that our mandated return to the office has no real purpose. I believe [company]'s upper management knows this, as I don't recall seeing an actual reason for being required to return to the office in any [company] communications – we were simply told that it was happening and given a date to return. But I will give [company] the benefit of the doubt and consider the strongest rationales other major companies have stated.
The first (and most common) rationale is that being in-person allows for collaboration opportunities that can't be matched remotely. If this were 5 years ago, I could agree with that statement. However, we are living in a post-COVID world where technology has met – even exceeded – the demands of collaborating from home. It is now easier than ever to send an instant message through Teams with a question or update, share screens, or hop into a Zoom call at a moment's notice and without causing needless distraction to our peers. Even better, this can be done from anywhere; doing so in an office setting offers zero additional benefit in an all-digital world.
The second most common rationale is that being in-person “preserves and promotes company culture.” But neither I nor my peers can figure out what that is supposed to mean. We all continue to talk to each other even from home, and in fact, it's even easier than ever before thanks to the ease of instant messaging and Zoom calls, regardless of where they would usually sit in an office. If “company culture” represents something other than coworkers communicating and collaborating with each other to propel their company forward, then I am certain whatever it represents is not something that actually benefits said employees.
I won't even get into the facts that gas prices are at a record high, that countless hours are wasted commuting for no appreciable reason (as demonstrated above), that many are still concerned about contracting or spreading COVID to loved ones, that countless studies demonstrate employees are more focused and motivated while working from home, or any of the other countless reasons why forcing employees to return to the office is terrible for morale and the long-term future of [company].
However, I will say that many other companies understand exactly what I have outlined above, and those companies are eager to welcome top talent departing from companies that are trying to force employees back into an office. For my part, I was able to secure a fully-remote [same department/role] position at a company with FYE 2021 revenues nearly 10x greater than those of [company], and that entire process from application to acceptance-of-offer happened in the span of less than a month. I would have chosen to stay and continue to grow with [company] in a heartbeat given the ability to work remotely (from home and even outside of [state]), and believe me when I say that this is an increasingly common sentiment among employees everywhere.
I don't know whether this letter will even be read or just simply discarded without a second thought, but I hope for the sake of my fellow soon-to-be-former coworkers that [company] will seriously reconsider its policies on remote work. I went through the trouble of writing out the above not because it will benefit me in any way personally, but simply because the people I have had the great fortune of working with at [company] deserve better. [company] currently employs some of the nicest, hardest working people I have ever met, and frankly [company] has nothing to gain yet everything to lose by rocking the boat and forcing them to waste any amount of time commuting and spending all day in an uncomfortable office without any discernable benefit for anyone involved. Hopefully [company] will reconsider before the employees that make it great also leave for companies that do offer the ability to work from home.
Thank you for your consideration.”