Felicia, a 53-year-old administrator in Arizona, has made the difficult decision to quit her job rather than return to the office full-time. Despite a six-figure salary, she prioritises her desire for flexibility and autonomy over financial stability.
Felicia felt she ‘doesn’t need to be in the office’ to perform her duties, and the thought of returning to a traditional work environment is unappealing, Business Insider reported.
For the past 18 months, Felicia’s office had a hybrid model where she worked from home three days a week and in the office for two days, which allowed her to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
According to Felicia, she found that she was more productive during her remote workdays and was able to concentrate better without interruptions and distractions.
However, when her company asked her to return to the office full-time, Felicia felt she had no choice but to resign. She enjoyed the quiet focus of working from home and looked forward to seeing her coworkers in person during in-office days. With the return to full-time in-office work, Felicia has noticed that in-person gossip has become a distraction, and she feels that she’s seeing less of her team, Business Insider reported.
She came to the realisation that it was time for her to quit her job while sitting in traffic and feeling the frustration of being stuck while having a meeting to attend. She questioned the necessity of the commute and the impact it was having on her well-being.
Despite the trend towards efficiency and cost-cutting, some managers continue to exhibit “productivity paranoia,” a concern that remote employees may not be working as hard as those in the office.
According to Felicia, the managers at her previous company held a false perception that hybrid employees weren’t as productive as their in-office counterparts. She and her colleagues working from home found that they could complete most of their work without interruptions or distractions during their remote workdays. Despite her success in the hybrid model, Felicia saw several of her colleagues leave for fully remote or hybrid jobs, which made her miss the work-life balance she had before.
She also added that strict return-to-office mandates may negatively impact productivity and cause workers to leave their jobs, even if they are otherwise content with their work. Felicia believes that this may be especially true for those who prefer remote or hybrid work arrangements. As per her, companies may end up losing such employees regardless of their job satisfaction if they impose inflexible return-to-office mandates.
Read all the Latest Business News here
Comments
0 comment