Tech Talent Shortage Looms Behind Return-to-Office Delays
The stubborn persistence of the pandemic is prompting tech companies like Intuit, Stripe and Google to keep postponing their plans to return to the office. One reason some are treading so carefully: a fear of losing workers in a hypercompetitive job market.
A near-record number of tech job openings. Morale problems. Employee anxiety about new Covid-19 variants. Those factors and others are leading more tech companies to a similar conclusion: Let’s punt a return-to-office plan until sometime next year.
Earlier this month, for example, Intuit executives told staff at the financial software company that a Jan. 18 deadline it had set for a mandatory return to the office was now optional, due to the emergence of the Omicron variant. That was Intuit’s third such delay since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. While rising Covid-19 cases, new variants and local health regulations were the main reasons for the earlier delays, the latest one was also influenced by a concern among Intuit executives. They feared a return-to-office mandate could alienate employees, who have a growing abundance of job options elsewhere.
The tight labor market is “absolutely a component” of executives’ return-to-office decisions at Intuit, said Chris Glennon, vice president of global real estate and workplace at the company.