More companies are calling people back to the office. Many workers want to stay home
CBC
As soon as her company told employees they would have to return to the office part time, Amanda Nilsson started looking for a new job.
"When they started mandating three days, I knew the writing was on the wall," said the senior accountant who worked for a Toronto-based real-estate company. She says she felt it would be only a matter of time before three days in the office became four or five.
"I could understand why they were pushing to bring people back in the office," said Nilsson. "But at the same time I have to do what's in my best interests as well."
More companies are asking workers to return to the office — for at least a few days a week — after Labour Day, citing better communication, increased productivity and a stronger company culture for the shift. But workers aren't convinced.
After years of working from home, employees like Nilsson are pushing back because they say that the option to work remotely affords them a better quality of life.
"Once a bell has been rung, it cannot be unrung," said McMaster University human resources and management professor Catherine Connelly.
"And once employees have had an opportunity [to] work from home, they're going to continue to expect to be allowed to do that in the future."
Within a month of starting her search, Nilsson had two offers from employers offering more remote work flexibility. She said she doesn't see herself applying for any job that mandates a number of days worked in the office ever again.
"I'm exercising twice a day. I'm running five days a week. My husband's also fully remote, so I get to spend more time with him and with our dog," said Nilsson.
"The quality of my life had improved so much over the last three years of remote work that I just — I wasn't ready to give that up."
Some of the world's largest tech companies have recently begun calling their employees back to the office. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, told workers in June that they're expected to return to their offices three days a week starting Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Amazon shared with CBC News comments made by CEO Andy Jassy during a pre-recorded Q&A meeting last month. Jassy told employees who defy the company's three-days-a-week policy that their future at Amazon probably wouldn't work out. He added that it wasn't right for some employees to be in the office while others weren't.
More than 20,000 Amazon workers signed a petition urging the company to reconsider its mandate earlier this year.
Even Zoom — the video-calling software company that skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic and made it easier for many companies to conduct meetings remotely — asked employees who live within an 80-kilometre radius of its offices to work in-person twice a week. Some workers weren't happy about it.
