Boss called her ‘unproductive’ and forced her to return to office. When she stopped replying after work hours, he knew he messed up

Several offices have lifted the work-from-home mandate after the pandemic ended, claiming that workers are more productive in offices. A user who goes by u/furrows_diocese-8q shared a post on January 18 about how their sister dealt with the situation when her boss made the same claim. The crew was doing their job well and were content with their prior remote arrangement, but were forced to come to the office. Complying with the manager's perspective meant several 'cultural' changes within the office group. When she made those, her boss pulled her up on it, but she got away with a classy defense. 

The woman and her team had a great rapport with each other and would even meet up once in a while when they were working remotely. That makes sense since it can get pretty lonely working all alone. Unfortunately, they were asked to begin working from the office. “Since that decision, things have changed,” the post revealed. The team also stopped meeting up due to exhaustion, working hours, but primarily because it was pointless. They saw each other for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and it improved their output at work as well. "She told him to his face that since she's in the office now, her 'productivity' is much higher during work hours and she gets everything done," so she began clocking out at the end of her shift and leaving work at the office. When the manager asked her why she wasn't responding after working hours, she boldly revealed, “Since she's in the office now, her 'productivity' is much higher during work hours and she gets everything done.” 

Trying to neglect her reasons, he stated that “being in the office 8 hours a day doesn't mean she should completely disconnect when she leaves.” To this, the worker had a brilliant comeback. “No, that's literally what it means. Why would I do something at 8 PM when I'm less productive at home, according to you? It can wait until the morning when I'm back in the office and at my peak productivity,” she remarked. The office mandate turned out to drain the employees instead of increasing their productivity. Furthermore, the woman honestly pointed out that with commuting, she was giving the company an extra 10 hours a week, which is why she didn’t feel like going back to work stuff once she was home.

The manager still didn’t respect and understand the employee’s perspective, and it was the case with several others in the company. As a result, many, including the woman, have started scouting for other jobs that respect time and flexibility. “It was never about RTO or 'bonding'. It's all about control,” the post concluded. This egoistic approach already led to the beginning of a downfall for the company. And it’s the reality for many today. Data shared by Activ Track revealed that workers are more productive without a regular, everyday office setting. Remote workers showed 30-40% more productivity than those working in traditional offices.

Workers with their own flexibility in remote arrangements were reported to have 40% fewer mistakes made, thus increasing work efficiency and flow. Furthermore, employees save an average of 72 minutes per day when they work from home instead of commuting. From this, they’re able to give 40% of this saved time to their organizations, thus benefiting them. Economist Nicholas Bloom studied a research paper on employees working from home versus the office and shared his findings with the Stanford Report. Resignations fell by 33% once employees were offered the work-from-home hybrid opportunity. 

Bloom shared that around 100 million employees worldwide follow a hybrid working schedule, and it has boosted work efficiency. He also revealed that 80% of U.S. companies are offering “some form of remote work” for this very reason. “The results are clear: Hybrid work is a win-win-win for employee productivity, performance, and retention,” he remarked. In this company's case, they are setting themselves up for failure by prioritizing toxic superiority over professional leadership and functioning. u/RevolutionarySky6143 wrote, "Not doing things at home because you are deemed unproductive and so only doing them in the office is top tier." u/mrkstr added, "As a business owner, I never contact my employees after hours. It's the quickest way to burn someone out."

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