If You Are Forcing People Back Into The Office, You Better Also Be Including A Pay Raise
Return to office is not just a scheduling change. It is a pay cut in commute hours, family hours, and health. If you want senior professionals back in the seat, you better show them the money. And if you are the professional being pushed back, choose carefully.
Originally shared on LinkedIn: January 9, 2025
If you are forcing people to go back into the office after being successful working at home, you better also be including a pay raise.
I said what I said.
You want me to spend 2 plus hours commuting to work in my city instead of being with my family, loved ones, or improving my health?
You better show me the money.
The Real Math Of A Forced Commute
When I worked at Amazon, I had two kids under four years old.
I left at 6 AM, before they were awake, and got home by 5 PM.
That left me about two hours before my kids' bedtime.
I got a whopping two hours a day with my reason for living.
That is the trade a lot of companies are quietly asking senior professionals to accept again. Not two extra hours of "collaboration." Two fewer hours with the people they built the career for in the first place.
Forcing People Into The Office Is Taking Time From The Ones They Love
That is the bottom line.
It is not a scheduling detail. It is not a real estate strategy. It is not a culture play.
It is a pay cut in family hours.
And it better be worth it.
Choose Carefully
You only get one life.
The people who want to babysit you in your office are not the ones who will be at your funeral. Your children and loved ones will.
That perspective changes how you evaluate a role. It changes how you evaluate an offer. It changes how you evaluate a "we need you back in the office" email.
If the compensation, the seat, and the mission are worth it, do it with your eyes open. If they are not, do not talk yourself into a trade you would not accept from anyone else.
What This Looks Like At The Senior Level
Senior professionals who get to say no to forced return to office are not lucky. They are positioned.
They built visibility before they needed it.
They opened relationships in adjacent companies before there was a job posting.
They operate as the Candidate of Choice, so remote first employers come to them instead of the other way around.
That is not a lifestyle wish. That is a strategy.
If you are ready to stop being pushed into commutes that take your family back and start getting recruited by companies that already respect the way you live, close your Hireability Gap™ at TheoryOfHireability.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is forcing return to office effectively a pay cut?
Because a two hour daily commute is time and money taken back from the professional, on top of gas, wear on the car, meals out, and lost family hours. If the role was successful remote, the commute is not a productivity gain. It is a cost transferred from the employer to the employee. If the company wants the seat filled in person again, the compensation package has to reflect that added cost. Otherwise it is a quiet pay cut.
What is Lindsay's rule for evaluating a return to office demand?
Ask what the office is giving you back. Two extra hours a day away from your family, your health, and your life is not neutral. It is one of the biggest levers a company can pull on your total quality of life. If the company is asking for that time back, the offer better include a real raise, a real title move, or both. Otherwise it is a downgrade dressed up as culture.
Why does Lindsay talk about time with kids so directly?
Because she lived the other version. Her dad worked two jobs and passed away when she was twelve. When she had her own kids she made a different choice. She refuses to trade the small window of time she has with them for a chair in someone else's building without a very serious return on that trade. That is the lens she wants every senior professional to use on their next role.
How do senior professionals get remote roles without accepting a forced return to office?
By stopping the search apply pray hamster wheel and stepping into the Candidate of Choice tier. When your positioning reads as the operator hiring managers already want, remote first companies come to you. You get to say no to the commute demand because you have alternate seats on the table. That is the entire point of building Me, Inc. before you need it.
