One of the biggest trends brought about by the pandemic comes in the way that we work.
Many of us have been working at home consistently during the pandemic, and it’s a practice that seems like it’s here to stay.
One CEO doesn’t like it, and the story has gone viral on Reddit.
“If you want to work from home, go work somewhere else.”
This was the CEO’s ultimatum, as detailed on Reddit. There’s quite a bit more to the story, though.
OP writes that they’d been working as a developer for a popular food delivery app. Needless to say, those apps have been very successful throughout the pandemic as people order in rather than go out for dinner.
People had been working from home through much of the pandemic.
OP writes that the management team decided at a certain point that the pandemic was over (it wasn’t) and that everyone should head back to the office.
“We had been told when we were hired that any return to work policy would be super flexible and it turned out it really wasn’t,” wrote OP.
It wasn’t a realistic demand.
Besides the fact that many employees had been hired to work from home and were now expected to go to the office, some employees lived nowhere near the office and were still expected to come in to work.
Things came to a head during a Q&A session.
One employee asked if they could get an exemption since they don’t live in a city with an office.
“Look,” replied the CEO. “This is what we’re doing and what we think is best for the company. If you want to work from home, my suggestion is to go work somewhere else.”
Just like that, the exodus began.
OP writes that after this exchange, the company’s Slack and chat channels went mostly silent, attendance at meetings dropped and many people decided to quit altogether.
“By the time I left, the team that started at eight people was down to just two deciding to stay,” wrote OP.
It all sounds pretty unreasonable.
One commenter pointed out that hiring remote workers without giving them a relocation plan was a dumb course of action.
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“So you hire me, tell me remote work is all good, then backpedal and tell me I have to relocate,” they wrote. “It’s your stupid policy, so it’s your stupid responsibility to help your employees do that.”
“If you won’t let your employees work from home, someone else will.”
This is how another Redditor summed it up, and it’s a good point. App developers are generally in high demand, and most of these employees will likely have no trouble finding a more flexible job.
Isn’t working from home a good thing?
Obviously, plenty of employees prefer working from home. But it comes with perks for the employer, too. In fact, it everyone works from home, the employer doesn’t have to rent an office or pay for utilities.
What’s the worst workplace culture you’ve been a part of?
Whether your story is from before or during the pandemic, we always love a good tale of workplace drama. Let us know what you think of this story, then share your stories in the comments!
