Return-to-office (RTO) mandates have caused companies to lose some of their best workers, a study tracking over 3 million workers at 54 “high-tech and financial” firms at the S&P 500 index has found. These companies also have greater challenges finding new talent, the report concluded.
This is obvious to anyone who has been in the tech sector, especially those who work remotely. I’ve been remote for nearly 10 years now.
At this point, I have recruiters from Amazon and Meta pretty regularly contacting me about roles. I always say the same thing: I’ve seen how you treated your remote employees, and while you claim position X is currently remote, I’m not about to put myself in a position to “enjoy” your next round of RTO mandates.
I know I’m not alone in that. Combine groups like mine with the groups already burned by RTO, and you have a sizeable contingent of talent which won’t touch certain companies.
To be clear, it’s very difficult for smaller companies to make a dent against the big players, and those that do tend to just get bought out anyway. But that approach is shockingly inefficient compared to just being able to attract top talent in the first place.