Based on our internal surveys, about 10% of our team wants to come in every day.
How many don’t want to come in to the office at all, or less than once a week?
We want to make the environment such that 100% of our team wants to come in at least some days.
If my current company insisted I come back to the office, I’d quit in a heartbeat, and I love my job. I think it’s be hard to make me want to come in “some days”, if “some days” is more than twice a month. I can’t be productive at an office, and I can’t connect as well with people. My home office is the perfect place for productivity, and I find nearly everything about sitting in an office, especially an open floor plan office, commuting, traffic, public transit, all of it, somewhere on the spectrum of detestable. I feel there’s a serious disconnect between a lot of these CEOs and their employees. The CEOs believe in something, and they want all of the employees to align with their beliefs. The reality is that most of us in the tech community seem to prefer remote work, and the reality is that most of us don’t really want to socialize with our coworkers all day and have “hallway conversations”. A lot of us are introverts and find it taxing and forced and awkward.
The pandemic is showed me how great work can be, when given autonomy and flexibility. I’m happier, I spend more time with my family, and I’m more effective at work. The second an employer forced me to come into the office regularly, or makes me feel like a second class citizen for working remotely even, I’ll quit and go somewhere that values me more.
>We want to make the environment such that 100% of our team wants to come in at least some days.
If my current company insisted I come back to the office, I’d quit in a heartbeat, and I love my job.
The line you quote is explicitly not insisting, so your whole rant seems moot? Cloudflare is trying its best to create an office environment that you want to visit sometimes, but if you really really don't want to, then you don't have to, so why are you so upset about it?
Then it seems to me that if Cloudflare successfully gets those who do live near an office to come to the office at least some of the time, there will be two classes of employee. Why not fully embrace the changed environment, close the offices (saving some money), and go distributed all the way? Then the employees who are currently near a former office but haven't put down roots there would also be free to move away if they like, and those who weren't near an office will be on a truly level playing field.
Your question contains the implicit assumption that all employees would rather be remote, but that's not true. Many employees, myself included, actually want to work from an office. Why should the remote-only crowd get their preference at our expense? In an all-remote model, those of us with kids at home and no good place to work will become the "second-class" employees.
The blog post discusses at great lengths the challenges of a hybrid model and some things Cloudflare is doing to address them. For example:
One of the few rules that we plan on starting with is that in meetings if any person is remote then everyone in the meeting is remote.
I definitely understand that many employees would rather work in an office, and I think it’s fair to say they should be provided. But whether they live near an office or not, remote should always be an option. Some people like myself are absolutely unable to be productive in an office, and have a good space to work at home, and think time spent commuting is a waste of my life. If it’s truly a hybrid model than great.
Comments
How many don’t want to come in to the office at all, or less than once a week?
If my current company insisted I come back to the office, I’d quit in a heartbeat, and I love my job. I think it’s be hard to make me want to come in “some days”, if “some days” is more than twice a month. I can’t be productive at an office, and I can’t connect as well with people. My home office is the perfect place for productivity, and I find nearly everything about sitting in an office, especially an open floor plan office, commuting, traffic, public transit, all of it, somewhere on the spectrum of detestable. I feel there’s a serious disconnect between a lot of these CEOs and their employees. The CEOs believe in something, and they want all of the employees to align with their beliefs. The reality is that most of us in the tech community seem to prefer remote work, and the reality is that most of us don’t really want to socialize with our coworkers all day and have “hallway conversations”. A lot of us are introverts and find it taxing and forced and awkward.
The pandemic is showed me how great work can be, when given autonomy and flexibility. I’m happier, I spend more time with my family, and I’m more effective at work. The second an employer forced me to come into the office regularly, or makes me feel like a second class citizen for working remotely even, I’ll quit and go somewhere that values me more.
The line you quote is explicitly not insisting, so your whole rant seems moot? Cloudflare is trying its best to create an office environment that you want to visit sometimes, but if you really really don't want to, then you don't have to, so why are you so upset about it?
I imagine I’d eventually feel like an outcast for being the only one.
There are lots of people at Cloudflare who live nowhere near an office and will remain 100% remote even after the offices reopen.
Then it seems to me that if Cloudflare successfully gets those who do live near an office to come to the office at least some of the time, there will be two classes of employee. Why not fully embrace the changed environment, close the offices (saving some money), and go distributed all the way? Then the employees who are currently near a former office but haven't put down roots there would also be free to move away if they like, and those who weren't near an office will be on a truly level playing field.
Your question contains the implicit assumption that all employees would rather be remote, but that's not true. Many employees, myself included, actually want to work from an office. Why should the remote-only crowd get their preference at our expense? In an all-remote model, those of us with kids at home and no good place to work will become the "second-class" employees.
The blog post discusses at great lengths the challenges of a hybrid model and some things Cloudflare is doing to address them. For example:
I definitely understand that many employees would rather work in an office, and I think it’s fair to say they should be provided. But whether they live near an office or not, remote should always be an option. Some people like myself are absolutely unable to be productive in an office, and have a good space to work at home, and think time spent commuting is a waste of my life. If it’s truly a hybrid model than great.