Things I am thinking about
Return to Office and the Vulnerable
Broadcom’s CEO decided that we all have to come to the office. Normally, I would be railing about the duplicity of management. The one caveat is that Broadcom didn’t make the promises. VMware made them. And when your company gets acquired, you have to conform to the new rules. And the new laws are different.
I could rail at the decision to sell VMware for what I know is chump change, but that’s a different rant for a different day. Broadcom bought VMware for a fraction of its value. The previous owners exploited VMware for their own ends and made less money overall for themselves and the shareholders.
But back to return from home policies. Unlike Amazon, Facebook, and Google, where the rules changed and then changed again, VMware ceased to exist, and we all woke up, and those who had a job found themselves working at a new company with new rules.
Broadcom did sweeten the pot somewhat by offering more money. And Hock made it clear that if we agreed to his terms and delivered, we would make more money. And he has a track record of proving that.
As for myself, coming into the office was never a big deal. I come in 5 days a week.
The real challenge is for folks with disabilities, with particular family situations, and with certain medical conditions who are now scrambling to find out what to do or what they can do.
VMware’s EPIC2 values and remote work mean that we have a lot of folks who stayed at VMware because it worked for their lives.
What’s infuriating is that most of the discussion about work from home centers around the privileged folks like myself and not around the vulnerable folks, who are now being told - “find a job if you don’t like it,” and for whom finding a job is hard, and who were doing good work.
The problem is that working from home is not a “like” issue; it’s a life-or-death matter for them.
The good news is that the ADA, the EEOC, and Broadcom have a well-defined process for handling this. So things will be sorted out reasonably and respectfully.
But imagine now having to disclose stuff to your boss and wondering if your boss will fire you, treat you differently, etc, because of the stigma associated with whatever problem you might have.
Like a spouse, child, or friend who needs special care.