Return to office

#returntooffice · 3 voices

What people keep running into

Forced return-to-office removes flexibility, raising employee anxiety (5 voices)

Voices

My company knew I relocated to Nashville when they announced permanent remote work in 2022. They signed off on it. My manager knew. HR knew. I bought a house here. My partner found a job here. Our whole life rebuilt itself around something that, looking back, was never actually a written promise…
My employer just mandated 5 days in-office starting September. I moved 45 miles away when we went remote in 2022. That's a 90-minute commute each way. Gas, tolls, wear on my car. I'm calculating that I'll effectively take an $800/month pay cut. This feels like a trap.
My company wants us back five days a week starting in August. The quiet panic in every Slack channel right now is palpable. People built their entire lives around flexibility and now that's being taken back. It's not going to go smoothly.