I may be good for another 5-7 years

[anothercog]

I have transitioned back to the office after 2 years of working from home, sort of. The return to the office is very relaxed so I basically roll in and leave when I want and only then, 3 days a week. It's noticeably a more chill vibe as most people have elected not to return. I imagine they will consolidate us all into one building sooner than later.

Also, our GC (my dept head) has announced he stepping down at age 60. I was bit concerned that they were going to bring in someone from outside the company which could certainly shake things up but I just found out that my boss will be elevated to the role. I'm very happy about this because he and I have a good rapport and he also works from the other coast so i don't see any change to the new relaxed office environment.

I assume he will stay in the role for 5-7 years which aligns perfectly with my intended exit date. Now the next part of my plan is negotiating a raise to maximize my aggressive saving timeline.

 

[Luvtoride]

I hope you are right and things play out as you think they will for all that time.

After 2 years of our entire company working remotely, I (along with all employees in our company) expected to transition to a hybrid office/ remote schedule sometime soon. I thought this would be a fine runway to retirement for me within a year.

We were just informed (verbally by department heads, nothing in writing from HR) last week that all employees will be required to return to the office 5 days a week immediately!

I’m now reviewing my retirement plan to make sure I can depart SOONER than the year out I had planned. The thought of commuting to NYC 5 days a week is too stressful to continue for another year.

Don’t count on things remaining status quo.
Good luck.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

Yeah we will be returning to our one day a week in office schedule next month...
Such a waste of time and gas only to have to listen to all the useless banter...
Its been the only good thing about the last two horrible years..sleeping in till 10 minutes before logging into the Matrix. No need to shower, shave and shine. I know I am more focused and productive at home. Just leave me alone and let me do my job please....

Do I sound bitter...

 

[target2019]

I'm in such a good mood after not seeing an office in 2 years that I would visit one friend for a friendly lunch. But no office!

Congrats, anothercog. I hope the seas remain calm for you.

 

[anothercog]

I hope you are right and things play out as you think they will for all that time.

After 2 years of our entire company working remotely, I (along with all employees in our company) expected to transition to a hybrid office/ remote schedule sometime soon. I thought this would be a fine runway to retirement for me within a year.

We were just informed (verbally by department heads, nothing in writing from HR) last week that all employees will be required to return to the office 5 days a week immediately!

I’m now reviewing my retirement plan to make sure I can depart SOONER than the year out I had planned. The thought of commuting to NYC 5 days a week is too stressful to continue for another year.

Don’t count on things remaining status quo.
Good luck.

The CEO has stated she is committed to a flexible workspace indefinitely. She actually moved away from the headquarters herself and will be working on the opposite coast. My boss is on the opposite coast and all the other senior leaders in my dept are staying remote. I’m going to be the most senior person in the office. Most of my team is remote. My boss didn’t realize I was coming into the office at all.

I do think there will be a push to get more people to come back but the days of FaceTime for the sake of FaceTime seem to be over.

 

[sparky08]

We were just informed (verbally by department heads, nothing in writing from HR) last week that all employees will be required to return to the office 5 days a week immediately!
.

Just the hint that we'd be required to return to the office caused three very good employees to leave for other companies.

Upper management stiil doesn't like it, but they have backed off.

 

[silvor]

I hope you are right and things play out as you think they will for all that time.

After 2 years of our entire company working remotely, I (along with all employees in our company) expected to transition to a hybrid office/ remote schedule sometime soon. I thought this would be a fine runway to retirement for me within a year.

We were just informed (verbally by department heads, nothing in writing from HR) last week that all employees will be required to return to the office 5 days a week immediately!

I’m now reviewing my retirement plan to make sure I can depart SOONER than the year out I had planned. The thought of commuting to NYC 5 days a week is too stressful to continue for another year.

Don’t count on things remaining status quo.
Good luck.

Quit. There’s tons of jobs that are now remote 100%. We’ve lost a LOT of people to our competitors and we are likely going to be hybrid.

 

[Luvtoride]

Just the hint that we'd be required to return to the office caused three very good employees to leave for other companies.

Upper management stiil doesn't like it, but they have backed off.

And that was “just a hint”. I’m waiting to see what the fallout of our 5 day policy will be when I get back from vacation in mid-April.
Hopefully they too will back off or “look the other way” when we’re all not in 5 days and the work is still getting done as it has been for the past 2 years!

 

[RxMan]

I wonder how companies are going to handle the issue of returning to the office. There are so many people that have been working remotely for years now that won’t be willing to return. Couple that with out of control inflation including gas prices and it literally costs you a lot of time and money to go to an office to do the same job.

I last stepped in an office for work two years ago. My problem is that I just found out that my company lost the contract with my client. This means everyone on my team including myself will need reassignment to new jobs on other projects.

We’ve all been assured that we will still have jobs but that doesn’t mean I will like my landing spot. I may be on a project that requires in office working. There may on-call duties I don’t have now. Things are up in the air right now but I know for sure my current position will no longer exist in a couple of months.

I’m not quite in a financial position to retire so I know I need to work a few more years. I’ve applied for one job externally that would be very exciting but I don’t know if I have the experience that employer wants for the position in question.

I can say that I don’t anticipate boredom when I finally do retire. My wife and I have big plans that will keep us quite busy. Everyone needs to take an honest look at themselves and think of retirement as a complicated decision that involves much more than money.

The recent announcement and shakeup with my current job has made me re-evaluate all of our plans. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but the downside is that I know I will be losing a job and work from home status that I really enjoyed soon based on factors outside my control.

I probably would have stayed at this position in cruise control for my remaining working years had this shakeup not occurred. Now my future even beyond June of this year is uncertain but I have a gut feeling that opportunity will knock. I’m waiting for my opportunity to present itself to me. Who knows- I may find a job that I really enjoy and would have never bothered to even look for had this all not happened to me.

That’s what makes life exciting. The unknown keeps life interesting and forces one to adapt. I’m being reminded of that reality currently and I’m trying to be content that things will work out.

 

[Time2]

I hope you are right and things play out as you think they will for all that time.

After 2 years of our entire company working remotely, I (along with all employees in our company) expected to transition to a hybrid office/ remote schedule sometime soon. I thought this would be a fine runway to retirement for me within a year.

We were just informed (verbally by department heads, nothing in writing from HR) last week that all employees will be required to return to the office 5 days a week immediately!

I’m now reviewing my retirement plan to make sure I can depart SOONER than the year out I had planned. The thought of commuting to NYC 5 days a week is too stressful to continue for another year.

Don’t count on things remaining status quo.
Good luck.

If you are planning to leave instead of commute, you at least could try to negotiate. Saying I will stay if I can work from home, otherwise I'm retiring. But in a more diplomatic tone.

 

[anothercog]

Personally I’m fine with remote work but do fear for the future of the younger generations if this become the new normal. I don’t want my kids siloed at home with a computer and no opportunities for interpersonal interactions. It will be harder to engraving younger workers into the company culture. It’s also more challenging to train and manage people.

I have one young guy on my team that wants to stay remote even though he lives in a studio apartment and lives 5 blocks for the office. Personally I think he would do better coming to the office and working in his socialization skills (which are a bit lacking), however he’s a good worker and I didn’t want to push it so I’m letting him stay full time remote.

 

[HenryD]

DW was 100% remote pre-pandemic, which she fought hard for and has for years. Megacorp changed policy and started pushing for hybrid to utilize the office space they built out a few years ago, which is a silly sunk-cost argument. If we lived 8 miles further out she'd get to stay remote, which is another silly reason.

So, she found another remote j*b. Higher salary, similar benefits, for a company with no local office. Win-win for us, and she's happier about w*rking a few more years until we hit our number.