London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Aug 05, 2025

'I quit my job rather than go back to the office'

'I quit my job rather than go back to the office'

In June Elon Musk told his staff at Tesla that he wanted them to come back to the office.

Those who do not return should "pretend to work elsewhere", he tweeted.

Mr Musk is not the only boss to tell his workers to come back to the workplace, and in many cases some have decided to leave their jobs rather than return to a five-day week in the office.

The online recruitment platform LinkedIn has found that a third of companies in the UK are planning to cut back on flexible working in the coming months.

But nearly two-thirds of workers say they are more productive in a hybrid or remote work environment.

Other research also suggests there is a divide opening up between those who lead companies and those who work for them on the issue.

Microsoft polled more than 20,000 workers across 11 countries. It found that 85% of leaders say the shift to hybrid work has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive, but 73% of employees say they need a better reason to go back than just company expectations.


Christian Hänsel says he did not feel valued by his employer

One person who decided to quit instead of return to the office is Christian Hänsel, a search optimisation manager who lives in Lemgo, Germany.

"I did not feel valued as a team member. I did not feel valued as an employee and I certainly did not feel like I was being taken care of," he says of his bosses' demands to return.

It took Christian just a couple of days to find another job and hand in his notice and he said many of his colleagues followed suit.

"You have to stand your ground, you have to talk about it, you have to be vocal, but you also have to calculate the advantages and disadvantages to working remotely and working at the office. And you have to find out what is right for you," he says.

The pivot to go back to an office is occurring at a time of a tight labour market.

Chantelle Brown works for the UK recruitment company Latte.

"We always advise clients against advertising jobs where they want someone to come in five days a week," she says.

"We did have a client that was asking for four days and we had to counsel with them to say you need to offer more than that because you're going to lose out to people who were asking for two to three days in the office instead."
Coursera's Jeff Maggioncalda says, as a boss, the pandemic has changed his views on employees working from home


"It's just a better way to run a business," says Jeff Maggioncalda, the chief executive of the US-based online learning platform Coursera whose more than 1,000 employees all work "remote first", meaning they choose if they work in the office or at home.

"Before the pandemic I was an old-fashioned CEO," he says.

"I was a 'go to work every day' person and we used to allow some people to work from home on Wednesdays and honestly, I despised that policy. I thought, you know, if you're not coming in you're not getting the work done."

But during the pandemic he was amazed to see that it was possible to get the work done and keep flexibility but it required a new way of managing.

"It starts with recruitment," he says. One of the things he now does is welcome new hires to the company personally and tell them about the business so that, whether they're working from home or the office, "the purpose of the company is aligned with the purpose of their life".

The firm also now focuses more on results than on activities, he says.

"A manager staying on top of whether the results are being produced, rather than on whether someone's coming into the office - that's the key switch that managers need to make."

He adds that offering more flexible working has allowed Coursera to get more women into leadership positions and into roles in technology.

Why not trust people to work from home "and see what happens as part of a great experiment?" says Grace Lordan


Technology isn't the only sector where women are more likely to choose a company that allows them to work remotely.

Grace Lordan from the London School of Economics spoke to 100 workers in the financial sector and found that overwhelmingly women were far more likely to want to work remotely for a significant section of their week.

"Women obviously still do more of the share of the house responsibilities and caring responsibilities," she says. "They have always valued autonomous working much more than men."

She says that people with disabilities are also more likely to value remote working, as well as those from ethnic minorities.

In general, she says, both employers and employees have to listen and compromise.

"We're in the UK, productivity is at an all-time low. You have people... saying to you, 'we are more productive with a remote first type set-up.' Why not trust them and see what happens as part of a great experiment?"

For generations people went to the office without even questioning whether it was necessary. The pandemic delivered a need to change quickly to a different way of working.

In industries where the competition to attract workers is greater than ever, employers are finding that offering remote work is a cost-effective way of improving their offer.

But if, as many predict, we enter a protracted recession and competition for talent weakens, companies may find it easier to demand a return to the office.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
UK's Online Safety Law: A Front for Censorship
Nationwide Protests Erupt in Brazil Demanding Presidential Resignation
Parents Abandon Child at Barcelona Airport Over Passport Issue
Mystery Surrounds Death of Brazilian Woman with iPhones Glued to Her Body
Bus Driver Discovers Toddler Hidden in Suitcase in New Zealand
Switzerland Celebrates 734 Years of Independence Amid Global Changes
U.S. Opens Official Investigation into Former Trump Prosecutor Jack Smith
Leaked audio of Canada's new PM Mark Carney admitting the truth about the Net Zero agenda: "We're gonna make a lot of money off of this."
China Enforces Comprehensive Ban on Cryptocurrency Activities
Absolutely 100% Realistic EVO Series Doll by EXDOLL (Chinese Company) used mainly for carnal purposes
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab: "In this new world, we must accept... total transparency. You have to get used to it. You have to behave accordingly. But if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't be afraid."
Meet Mufti Hamid Patel, head of Office for Standards in Education in Pakistan
George Soros tells the World Economic Forum: "President Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist, who wants the world to revolve around him."
Hamas are STARVING the hostages.
Decline in Tourism in Majorca Amidst Ongoing Anti-Tourism Protests
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
Poland Begins Excavation at Dziemiany After New Clue to World War II‑Era Nazi Treasure
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Threatens Canada with Tariffs Over Palestinian State Recognition
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Trump Sues Murdoch in “Heavyweight Bout”: Lawsuit Over Alleged Epstein Letter Sets Stage for Courtroom Showdown
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
J.K. Rowling Limits Public Engagements Citing Safety Fears
×