[ajtjp]

I quit my job over the lack of a return to office.

Interacting with people to solve problems is a lot of what I enjoyed about being a software developer, and particularly after starting a new job mid-pandemic where I didn't already know people (the old company imploded for pre-pandemic reasons), work was much more isolating and less rewarding than it was in 2019.

Once it became clear return-to-office was not on any sort of definite timeline, and that I would be fully vaccinated as more places reopened, it became an easy decision to quit. And it's one of the best decisions I've made. My mental health has improved considerably, and I've discovered new hobbies and am in better shape than I ever have been. I should probably have taken a multi-month gap at least once before.

I met a colleague from my old company today (in-person, of course), who reported that ten people have left this year, from an initial number of roughly 60. It's a consulting company, and as far as I know no one has been mandated to return; most of the clients were already remote. So that's a ballpark 15-20% figure, albeit with a small sample size, of people leaving over 7 months from a company without a strong return to office movement. Many of people leaving were people with low tenure at the company, and thus not having the in-person ties that might encourage staying with their friends and colleagues.