Company demands 5 days in office after years of remote, employee has a secret escape plan: 'The only thing that's changed is their desire for control'

It's always a good idea to have a backup plan, but few of us actually do.

It's easy to get tunnel-visioned about what we're doing at any particular moment. We're locked in, and it's hard to see the forest for the trees. But then something will come along, and you wish you had thought a little broader. This happens all the time in the workplace. You're trotting along, doing your job, and then your workplace makes a change that you can't abide by. But you're stuck, having no backup plan. Sure, you can try to come up with one now, but it almost feels too late.

There seems to be a big push in offices around the country to return to the office. After years of remote and hybrid work, some companies are walking it back and prioritizing in-person work. But many employees have gotten used to the flow of remote work, and have seen the ways it has improved their quality of life. It saves them time and money on a commute, it frees them up to make lunch instead of having to purchase it, and it adds just a touch of flexibility to life, which is something that everyone needs more of. The way the companies see it, though, it's valuable to have everyone in the same room at the same time. It fosters conversations and relationship building. But either way, you have to get people used to the idea. Going from 0 to 100 is a pretty big leap.