I quit my job and gave up a six-figure salary because my boss made me return to the office full-time – even though I was more productive at home
A woman who has been working remotely since the beginning of the pandemic has revealed she quit her job instead of returning to the office full-time.
Felicia, an administrator from Arizona, was earning a six-figure salary but decided she would rather give it up altogether than go back to five days in the office.
The 53-year-old told Insider she didn’t think she needed to be in the office to do her job well and was reluctant to return to a way of working like before the pandemic.
Her story comes as Insider reports employers across the US are demanding staff return to full-time office work, with some threatening to sack employees who don’t comply.
According to Felicia, this threat was enough to make her take things into her own hands and quit.
Felicia, 53, from Arizona in the US, worked as an administrator and earned more than $100,000 per year, but after her employer put a stop to hybrid working she decided she’d rather have a good work-life balance than a high salary (stock image)
She explained that, for a year and a half, she had been working to a hybrid model that required her in the office for just two days per week, with the other three days at home.
Describing it as the ‘perfect work-life balance’, Felicia argued she got a lot more work done during her days at home than she did in the office.
In contrast, her office days were so full of ‘distractions and interruptions’ that she found she would come home from work and continue working at her home desk for several hours to get things done.
Just one months after Felicia’s boss asked her to return to the office full-time, she handed in her resignation.
Explaining her reasons for quitting, she explained she wanted more time to herself, but added the culture of ‘water-cooler gossip’ had returned.
Felicia revealed her light-bulb moment came one day when she was stuck in a traffic jam on the way to a work meeting.
‘It’s like, why am I doing this to myself when it’s not even necessary?’ she said.
The administrator added she thought her bosses were suffering from ‘productivity paranoia’ which caused them to be concerned their remote employees were not doing enough work.
She challenged the belief held by many of her co-workers that she was only working when she was in the office, and the other three days of her week were ‘days off’.
Felicia said: ‘That is not true. We got most of our work done when we were working the three at home.
‘I just got to the point where it just wasn’t working for me. And I walked away from over a $100,000-per-year salary to seek positions that have hybrid options so that I can have that work-life balance.’
Now, Felicia is looking for new roles that will offer her more flexibility, even if she has to accept a pay cut.
She believes the inflexibility of some employers will harm productivity in the long run and could lead to an exodus of workers.