Return to the Office
Or Else?
With only 8% of job postings advertising remote or hybrid work according to Nick Bunker, director of North American economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab, (Telford, Taylor (2023 Sept 10) ‘Bosses Try Threats to get workers back in offices’ Washington Post.), it seems the pendulum has swung back in favor of return to office mandates.
(Photo by Zoe Fernandez on Unsplash)
Government agencies are deferring to OMB guidance and companies that made a great deal of money on the work from home surge of the Pandemic (Zoom, I’m looking at you!) are changing their tune and requiring at least a partial return to the office.
The most often touted reasoning is that they want more “water cooler” moments - those moments of brilliant brainstorming and idea flow (presumably not more of the recap of the recent episode of Reservoir Dogs or Sweet Magnolias). Because the economy is swinging back in favor of corporations with unemployment rates inching up and interest rates increasing, corporate leaders are seeing an opportunity to return to their old ways.
As a job seeker, obviously, this affects your job search.
As a human being, it brings you the opportunity to question not only “their” motives, but your own.
(related: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/21/return-office-mandates-employees-quit/)
(Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash)
No one ever wins when you stand on opposite sides of a line in a sand and dig in, just to WIN. Same is true with return to office mandates. As a job seeker, you’re seeing fewer and fewer opportunities to continue working from home being advertised and if the only reason you are ready to jump ship from your current role is because they want you in the office, think it through before you hand in your notice.
While I am almost 100% in the “power to the people” side of any argument, I also am known to have my feet pragmatically planted on the ground. Meaning - I’ll never cheer you on if you are putting yourself or those you love at risk of not eating, not having a roof over your head or being unable to seek medical care when you need it.
So, what are you going to do?
My recommendations:
Identify the specific goals and outcomes you need from a job. These include income, benefits, flexibility (or not) of hours, contribution to the organization (i.e., your special knowledge and talents contributing), colleagues, collaboration, growth possibilities and whatever else is part of your satisfaction meter at work.
Brainstorm all the different ways you can meet all (or 85%) of the goals and outcomes you’ve identified. Write down side gigs, part-time roles, people you know who are doing what you want to do and more. The sky’s the limit here!
Take a walk and spend time in nature.
Come back and review your brainstorm list and look for any connections. Are they all heavily focused on service? or Problem solving? or working alone?
Write a second list with job titles and company names - search beyond the big names for companies. Look at google maps and find companies within a 10 mile (Or 25 mile) radius of your house and research what they do. Find them on LinkedIn and take a look at the “people” tab to get a feel for who works there and how long they’ve been there.
Identify your must haves, nice to haves and don’t need to haves when it comes to your next job. By all means, if you MUST have a full remote role, make note of that, just be sure to have a strong argument as to how you can produce the required results AND how you are better suited than the next candidate who also has your background and is willing to come into the office. Remember, THAT is who you are competing with. They are not the enemy, they simply have different must-haves than you.
Now prepare for your job search with a fresh set of eyes. Highlight your career wins and outcomes in your cover letters (if you need one); your resume and your LinkedIn profile.
Start (or if you’ve been a subscriber for a while, continue) your networking - in person and virtually and move ahead in the job search
I will never tell you that your reasons for wanting to work remotely are wrong. I will never tell you not to quit a toxic situation where you are in danger.
I will caution you spread your wings and look for a new role while you have a role and stay put if there’s a chance your employer will change their mind, or otherwise pay a severance or qualify you to receive unemployment when they change their policy - so that you have money to tide you over during your search.
On the other hand, if you’ve been able to save a significant amount of money over the past three years, and can afford to be without full-time work for up to 6 months - absolutely take the leap.
This is a wild time to be a worker in the US, no matter your education and skill set, and we’re all watching to see how the WFH tug of war ends up. Do your best to stay prepared and care for yourself.
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Did you Know?
I host a podcast where I talk with amazing people (who happen to be adult adoptees) about their careers, education and dreams and setbacks. Check it out.
On the same station I also post job hunting tips and action steps you can take in 10 minutes to help your job search.