Top-Tier Executives Resist Returning to Office Full Time

New York, NY, July 19, 2023-"An unexpected group of workers is leading the resistance to the five-day office week: top-tier executives,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

“As the corporate push to get workers back to the office widens, new research from McKinsey shows that an influential group of senior employees strongly prefers the option of working from home at least part of the time. They are top performers and competitors will poach them with the promise of remote work. These executives may be small in number but can have outsize stature inside organizations.

“‘It’s a group of talent that has a lot of sway,’ around company culture and what attendance looks like, says Brian Vickery, a partner at McKinsey.

“Deb Andrychuk, the director of global talent attraction for Sony Interactive Entertainment, walked away from tens of thousands of dollars in long-term incentives on top of annual salary over $200,000 at Lowe’s, the home improvement retailer. Work from home was the deal breaker. 

“I have two aging dogs that have to be taken out,” Andrychuk says of her poodle mixes, Arnie and Rocco. 

“Sony Interactive, the San Mateo, Calif.-based maker of PlayStation, matched her salary last August, she says, and gave her permission to work from home in Davidson, N.C. Her office attendance amounts to a trip to headquarters on occasion. She estimates she’s saving $3,000 a year on pricey coffees, lunches, gas and vehicle wear and tear, plus it’s nice to throw in a load of laundry between meetings. 

“‘Life is so much better when you have flexibility,’ she says.”