This is delightful to read, thank you for sharing. Ham-fisted RTO was definitely my 'shields down' moment. The 'how' matters much like the 'what' or 'why'.

In terms of on-site/remote, I'm not firmly for or against either. I see benefits in both. Similarly - it's interesting to see this from the manager PoV.

I've been primarily WFH since ~2016 after doing the traditional thing for longer. I'm not new to either. Then the pandemic came/went... and how we kept working remained a hot topic.

I saw executives above me (with more pull) get put in a tough spot: sell their new homes and relocate, or find new work.

Then their peons/reporting managers tried to convince me that I'd be safe - appealing to pride saying I was too important to be lost to things like that.

Yeah, right. As strange as it sounds... my shields were forced down out of preservation. It took over a year of (communicated) discontent before the shields finally went down for good.

Nobody else did this - it was the business/leadership. I was productive despite most of the job not being about the work.

It just so happens there are places requiring less work (relevant to the job or not) while being more rewarding. Loyalty is a funny dynamic.

There's efficiency and leniency for everyone involved by choosing to not bike-shed over things like 'Where Are My Adults'. Doing the job you hired them for. I hope.

Absolutely, it's like any other worsening of the working conditions. When I've had a conflict of sorts with my direct manager, I also started looking elsewhere for job opportunities. Obviously in those other potential workplaces the same thing could happen, but in the current job I already know it has happened, so a coin flip is a (perceived) improvement.

(Also when negotiating a new contract with a working-from-office company, there's a better chance of getting a hybrid model than if you're already an employee.)