[jstx1]

> The best I have is that this is some kind of power play but I'm not convinced. Am I missing something?

You can consider that not everyone has the same preferences as you. Many people are more productive and happier working from an office and meeting their colleauges in person.

Forcing people into limited open space with unassigned seats sounds like terrible execution of return to office but in general RTO doesn't have to be some kind of conspiracy.

[lmarcos]

> You can consider that not everyone has the same preferences as you. Many people are more productive and happier working from an office and meeting their colleauges in person.

You mean, that to each their own right? I agree, but RTO is the opposite. RTO forces everyone to work from the office.

If you prefer to work from the office, go ahead be my guest. I prefer to work from home. It's a win-win, right? No. Just because you like to work from the office, I too must go to the office so that you are happy. I don't force you to work from the office or your home or wherever you want.

[JohnFen]

I find it very interesting that the WFH crowd is advocating for what works for them, and is not demanding that everyone work from home. The RTO crowd, however, is demanding that everyone conform to their own preferences and work from the office.

[operatingthetan]

For one group the desired outcome allows them to exert control over others, and the other group the desired outcome allows them personal agency. The needs of the corporation vs the needs of the individual.

[paulcole]

Both remote mandates and RTO mandates upset people. They are both demands that everyone conform to something.

[JohnFen]

The WFH people aren't demanding that everyone work from home. They're just demanding that they be allowed to.

[paulcole]

Yes, except this doesn't create the outcome that most people who enjoy in-person work desire.

If I'm the only one in the office and 20 people are working from home, that isn't what I'm looking for. So either I decide if I can deal with it or find a new job. And the company decides whether they can live with it or if they're going to mandate remote work, or mandate RTO.

Pro-WFH people like to portray their stance as clearly right. But there is no right or wrong here. It's a question of what a company chooses to do and then what their employees choose to do.

[throwaway675309]

If the majority of people at your company would prefer to work from home then it's not a good culture fit for you as somebody who wants to RTO.

[paulcole]

> You mean, that to each their own right?

No. I don’t know if the pro-remote people really don’t get this or just pretend?

It’s not about where I am and where you are. It’s about us being in the same physical place that people (such as myself) who prefer office work are looking for.

If I’m in the office and the other 25 people aren’t then it doesn’t benefit me the way I want it to. So for the company, it’s either RTO and the 25 people make a decision about what they want to do or stay remote and I make a decision about what I want to do. Neither is right or wrong, it’s just a decision that might have a good outcome or not.

In a way it is “to each their own” in that you get to decide whether the good stuff about your job outweighs the bad.

[jstx1]

Doing whatever you want isn't enough. If on a team of 10 people 9 are remote, the 10th person who goes to the office is remote too, they're just doing it from a different location. And vice versa, many people who like remote wouldn't like to be the only remote person while the other 9 people are in office (because they'll miss out on so much of the communication).

So while I want you to have whatever working arrangement works for you, either arangement only work if most of your colleagues have the same preference as you.

[flappyeagle]

what if I don't prefer to work with people that prefer to be at home? what if you don't prefer to work with people like me? I guess we are a bad fit then and should part ways.

[throwaway675309]

"Many people are more productive and happier working from an office and meeting their colleauges in person."

I can only speak to my industry as a software engineer, but I have yet to meet someone in my field under 40 who wants to go into an office.