"Getting back to normal" is the new mantra.
Most of all, while working at home, proving yourself, and accomplishing tasks, odds are your company did VERY well - revenue increases across the board were achieved by companies fortunate enough to remain open and work through the pandemic.
True, people are sick of fearing Covid19 and want to get back to business. Also true is the undebatable fact that Covid forced you to work for home and you loved it. While at home, your productivity went through the roof as middle management lost the traditional facilities of control.
You've proven yourself more productive. You are a Zoom Room king. Heck, over the last 12 months, you've learned more things than in the past three years.
You're happier now, aren't you? No 10 hours a week commute. You've reconnected with your kids and missed fewer dinners.
Above all, you helped the company get through the largest global catastrophe ever. That's right. You weren't "lucky" to have a job. Your company was most fortunate to have YOU there. Through all the challenges, changes, insecurities, and unknowns, you were loyal to the company.
And how does your company reward your loyalty?
They tell you to "Come back in, but stay six feet apart, get tested, and get the jab...", drive back and forth, miss your kids' games, let your dog whine, remain in a frazzled state of mind, and go further into debt.
They'll say things like, "I can't control your personal life." while interrupting your personal life expecting you to work "after hours" without realizing the concept is archaic.
So much for, "We're in this together..."
Here's my one statement to you, if your employer is:
- Forcing a centralized managerial system is out of date.
- Making employees work within 'eyesight is overbearing and untrustworthy.
- Forcing you back to the cubicle
QUIT.
To add insult to injury, help your company make more money than ever, and they ask you to come back to prison.
QUIT.
Unappreciated
The world is different. You deserve a good position AND enjoyable life. You've earned a day without terrible face-to-face meetings, useless conversations, and insecure management.
Consider this - the pandemic helped corporations reduce costs while increasing revenues. Why not increase everyone's pay? Perhaps as an incentive to get folks back to the office, the company could pick gas/mileage for all commuters? Or pay for housing, closer to the office? Is your company one that would pay for extra office space in lieu of giving you a raise?
The company that espoused "we're all in this together" during the pandemic, which made you convert your kitchen or second bedroom into an office for over a year, now wants to forget the past and return to "every person for themselves".
#QUIT. Go free agent. Walkout.
REAL companies understand your value, a value you've increased during the pandemic.
This is a terrible segment; staged and hollow, but you might get one or two points out of the article.
While I agree, mostly (as in I believe the majority prefer WFH), I do miss the office as a mode of getting out of the house. Not everyone on Earth is a parent, and it is fairly annoying when everyone evaluates people's preference solely on what a parent wants. Kind of sick of spending all my time at home.
ReplyDeleteMy company is offering a hybrid opportunity. I'm happily welcoming it. If I feel its too rigid and unflexible, I will look elsewhere. But I will so, I may have been more productive during the pandemic there was a TON of value lost not being able to just walk over to a colleague and have a real conversation. Digital communication will never be as effective. Its not much worse, but there is definitely something lost.