<story><title>Employers used return-to-office to make workers quit</title><url>https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4800828-office-mandates-cause-attrition/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>janalsncm</author><text>If what the article says is true, it seems they rolled back about a decade and a half of diversity in tech initiatives. It also speaks to how little power those organizations have.&lt;p&gt;Since I can remember there have been nonstop “women in tech” clubs to encourage women to advance their career even if it’s not easy. And it’s not easy if you have to take care of a child. The company might have a monthly zoom call and schedule a female senior manager to give a speech about her career. Wonderful.&lt;p&gt;And then RTO hits. And some of those same senior managers are requiring their teams to commute to an office and sit at a desk for vague, unspecified, or otherwise underjustified reasons.&lt;p&gt;The result is predictable. People resign. But some people are more likely to leave than others. Single men with no other obligations are less likely to mind leaving at 8:30 and getting back at 6:30. Women may not be able to.&lt;p&gt;It turns out, those zoom calls were largely useless. It’s not a mindset issue. It’s a labor issue. Women in tech initiatives were tolerated as long as they positioned themselves as mindset or career growth within the company, and didn’t encourage organizing or asking anything of the company. But a truly effective movement would have gave employers pause before mandating RTO.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cedws</author><text>Companies don’t care about any of that, they care about cheaper labor that comes from a larger hiring pool.</text></comment>
<story><title>Employers used return-to-office to make workers quit</title><url>https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4800828-office-mandates-cause-attrition/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>janalsncm</author><text>If what the article says is true, it seems they rolled back about a decade and a half of diversity in tech initiatives. It also speaks to how little power those organizations have.&lt;p&gt;Since I can remember there have been nonstop “women in tech” clubs to encourage women to advance their career even if it’s not easy. And it’s not easy if you have to take care of a child. The company might have a monthly zoom call and schedule a female senior manager to give a speech about her career. Wonderful.&lt;p&gt;And then RTO hits. And some of those same senior managers are requiring their teams to commute to an office and sit at a desk for vague, unspecified, or otherwise underjustified reasons.&lt;p&gt;The result is predictable. People resign. But some people are more likely to leave than others. Single men with no other obligations are less likely to mind leaving at 8:30 and getting back at 6:30. Women may not be able to.&lt;p&gt;It turns out, those zoom calls were largely useless. It’s not a mindset issue. It’s a labor issue. Women in tech initiatives were tolerated as long as they positioned themselves as mindset or career growth within the company, and didn’t encourage organizing or asking anything of the company. But a truly effective movement would have gave employers pause before mandating RTO.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>duxup</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m not sure I buy into this super connected WFH and diversity argument.&lt;p&gt;Folks working to 8:30 are working to 8:30 from home or work, both are going to hit people of different backgrounds differently depending on their personal situation as much as anything else.</text></comment>