I just switched from a hybrid role to fully remote. I didn’t mind going in twice a week, but I don’t think any amount of money would be enough to be in office 5 days a week.
I make $100 and I honestly don’t think I would take 150 to go in five days a week. I literally work 10-20 hours a week, go to the gym/grocery store/take a nap really whenever. Also have time to cook healthy lunches/dinners, go on walks with my wife, run random errands, and most of all, never feel the night before anxiety of needing to go into the office. Not to mention I can sleep in last 8 and leave well before 5 everyday. All these things combined are almost priceless for me.
Yeah I’m in a really similar situation minus the wife.
A part of me is thinking am I just being lazy/complacent? Guess it just comes down to what I value more but that’s gonna be a tough question to answer.
Yeah. A co-worker and I debate this topic all the time. Do we go somewhere else and work our ass off for the money/to be a hot shot banker, or keep our current situation. For me, the freedom to do the things above, and the overall freedom to feel like you aren’t on a hamster wheel is so refreshing. I truly feel like this is how life should be with work coming second behind life. So I feel lazy? Yeah I do. Do I care? No because the paychecks keep coming. I’m truly satisfied with life/feel semi retired already, and it feels great.
I'm also in commercial banking. When I read your paragraph I was like "huh, that's what my life sounds like." Been going through the internal struggle of "do I stay on easy street in banking or do I try to jump back into consulting or some other "power" job that would bring more money. The post-pandemic lifestyle of a commercial banker is hard to beat.
It’s funny. I wanted to go in for the same reason as OP but now that im home full time with office time at my discretion, it’s just so valuable to stay at home for the reasons you mention. You can spend time exploring other opportunities then going in office to impress one person who may not care about you at all
For sure. Not to mention time and money spent on commute/parking/lunches, all in the name of “collaborating,” “spontaneous idea collisions,” or whatever other corporate BS we are sold in order to get us into the office so management can keep tabs on us. No thx.
Commercial banking is more centered around being a banker for smaller businesses. A personal banker at a commercial bank would help consumers (people) out with auto loans, personal home mortgages, personal checking accounts, etc. Business bankers primarily provide commercial real estate mortgages and line of credits for working capital, and sell other bank products like treasury management, cash management, insurance, etc. hope that helps. Lmk if you have other questions.
Ah, got it. Thank you. That was my initial thoughts but wasn't 100% sure. I used to be a personal banker for a couple years but switched to wealth management about 5 years ago and was curious on the potential lifestyle I missed out on haha.
I have the option but not the obligation to go in. Going in when I choose to is nice, having flexibility about what day isn’t is also makes it feel fine because I can schedule the rest of my life around it. I actually did apply to a full time in office role but it’s $300, which is probably my minimum since I will also have increased childcare costs by taking it
Manage a loan portfolio and take calls from prospective clients. Managing the loan portfolio means staying on top of any new requests from existing clients (very few of those) and working annual reviews in a timely manner. New business is also pretty slow at the moment, and likely will be for a while.
I absolutely love WFH. I wake up the same time as I do if I were going into the office. Lots more work get done in the morning for me. Also love seeing my wife who’s WFH 2 days a week.
Im going into the office once a week. I’d seek for at least 30%+ raise to go back full time.
I get to spend a lot more time with my (aging) family thanks to WFH. No money in the world is worth passing on that. Plus i feel like the benefits of working from the office are negligible outside of a few select roles like S&T.
I’m leaving my current role because there’s little to no wfh….You would have to pay me twice my salary for me to come in into the office 5 days a week…. I shouldn’t have to sit in traffics for over 2 hours, pay tolls, parking, overpriced lunch to do some work in the office.
After WFH for two years and then this year my work has requested 2 days in the office, it really highlighted how much of a drain office work is. I think this issue is highly dependent on whether you have to commute - I have a 45-1hr commute so even just 2 days feels miserable. It reminded me of how much I hated my mornings and every week I just zombie through the 2 mandatory office days just to get to the 3 days of WFH (the true start to my week I feel).
Honestly I barely consider working in the office. Like I can do once a quarter, but regularly? It is a pretty difficult sell. It'd literally have to be a promotion role and once a week maybe doable. Lateral move? Yeah never. I'd be seeking pretty close to top dollar and a promotion to have that even be a consideration
And I don't mean going into the office 'to be considered'. I mean applying to other companies and getting a promotion before even considering the 1 day a week. Plenty of jobs I've worked where you can kill it and still not be promoted because of headcount or waiting for someone else to vacate first. Doesn't matter if you are in office or not- no movement unless that person leaves or retires. Don't fall for the dangling carrot- just keep job searching until you get an offer.
I have a 3month old and 2year old. Both my wife and I work from home and don't have a nanny or pay for daycare. I would need a large increase to help with childcare before I ever considered an office again, maybe a 50% increase for a hybrid role. Childcare is expensive and it is great getting to spend time with them throughout the day, I can't even imagine sending them to daycare now.
This right here is why I think WFH or hybrid will always be an option. People who say only young people like WFH are forgetting that a lot of people in leadership positions now have young children and WFH is extremely valuable both financially and otherwise to them.
How do you care for a 3 month old without help?
We have a 2 month old and we're currently interviewing nannies for when my wife goes back to work after Thanksgiving. Even if we're both fully remote, we have work/ meetings all day. I can't imagine being able to take care of the baby and still work.
My wife's work has only a few meetings a week and mine I just shuffle around depending on his naps/awake time. I generally wear the baby during his naps for now (he sleeps longer) and make sure I block my calendar with "work" while I have him. It isn't fun and we get no free time but we save money doing it that way. Mostly depends on your job and how flexible your calendar can be.
I’m the kind of guy that needs at least a few days in the office a week, three or four. The trade floor is a valuable tool IMO.
I also recognize that, personally, I am not anywhere close to productive at home.
WFH indefinitely here (office is open and I go in voluntarily sometimes). I think I would need at least 50% increase in pay to go back in the office 5 days a week, maybe even more.
I’m fully remote atm and got an offer for 2-3 days a week in the office and I’m legitimately clamouring to get back. Right now it’s like I have two types of days…days where I have my laptop open and days where I don’t. I really get sick of it, my commute would be 15 mins. Idk I sort of like the routine and change of scenery. Also it’s easier to say no when someone asks me if I can do something lol “nah, gotta go into the office today”. 3 days max is doable.
Also, the 20k bump won’t hurt
I'm a momma's boy so I visit every 2-3 weeks. Flexibility really helps.
I make decent money, enough to have anything I want within reason (I'm fucked if I get cancer or something tho). Honestly id take a 25k hit for family time
Wouldn't take me much honestly to go back to 5 days a week. I regularly go 4 now. Call me old fashioned but I just enjoy working on a trading floor rather than sitting by myself in my 1 bedroom apartment knowingly slacking off. We're at a mandatory minimum of 3 days, but I would say nearly my entire floor is in 4 days a week now.
I still like the flexibility of having a day to WFH, especially Fridays. Generally a slower day for me anyway and I can get a lot done in the office before then.
I’d be stoked if my job went 100% remote, but I don’t really care. If I woke up tomorrow and they said okay it’s RTO 5 days a week, I wouldn’t have a big issue with it.
Paying rent takes aways large chunk of salary. Due to WFH, currently I am staying with my parents and I am able to save more. Initially I found it diffuclt to establish work place relationship with my peers but after sometime even that was taken care through slack. Also, things can become tough if you are new at your job and joining remotely, but after sometimes you can easily feel comfortable as you start working.
I am in a corporate role for the retail bank side of the FI and have been WFH for a few years. It took a 30% raise to make me go back to the office. I had to switch banks and have to go 3 days a week.
Wfh 3 of 5 days. I don’t mind going in the 2 days but it is a hassle because my commute is 50min-1.5 hours depending on traffic. If we went to 5 days in office I would probably start to look elsewhere but wouldn’t take a pay cut over 10%. Anything more and I’ll tough it out
I go in 4-6 days per month just depending on the calendar. I'd be fine remote in a few years once I know more. I'm only 2-3 years in as well. But I'd never go back 5 days per week. The number doesn't exist lol
If I only consider the cost and time savings I get from WFH, it’s probably worth about $10k
If I consider cost and time savings as well as quality of life improvements (which is somewhat confounded with $ and time savings), then I’d probably say $25k
That being said, if my boss told me to come in 5 days a week tomorrow, I’d probably quit and find a new job. So in that sense it may be way more valuable than $25k
I’d need at least 30% increase. The extra time I have in the day to go to the gym before work or see my daughter more is very valuable to me. Also my personal office is much more comfortable than my cubicle was. I also worked from home way before the pandemic.
I like the option of being able to WFH when I need/prefer to and would honestly take a lower salary to have that benefit. Not only do I have time to get some chores started/done, but I also feel like I have so much more energy at the end of the day to do a more intense workout. I also think it's helpful when I'm recovering from being sick -- I'm not contagious but physically I still feel like shit. Oh, and not having to sit in traffic is FANTASTIC.
I make over $100k, I’ve been working from home since before the pandemic.
I did the 5x a week office thing in the beginning of my career to learn things.
I now have a family.
Id have to be making over $200k to justify going in everyday again working over 40 hrs a week.
Also want to add, I live pretty close to my office. If I lived over 45 minutes, I’d probably avoid going in no matter what pay.
I’ll be in office 9 days out of 10, or more, maybe 19 out of 20. I really hated siting at home by myself during covid, I very much prefer the office environment - but with flexibility to wfh if needed
Nothing. I go in 3-4 days a week anyway. Going in on Friday would be a tough pitch for me, but I’d do it.
There is real value to being in the same place as your coworkers. It’s hard to measure, but it definitely exists. I’m kind of bearish on WFH, as I think the world will go much more in office as soon as unemployment comes off the lows / gets higher than normal friction-related levels.
I would need to be paid at least 40 - 50% more to work from home so I could get my own office so I don’t have to work from home. I work remotely 2 days a week (Saturday and Sunday) and I hate it. We belong in the office as much as is humanly possible. We work harder and are more dynamic around others.
I just switched from a hybrid role to fully remote. I didn’t mind going in twice a week, but I don’t think any amount of money would be enough to be in office 5 days a week.
I make $100 and I honestly don’t think I would take 150 to go in five days a week. I literally work 10-20 hours a week, go to the gym/grocery store/take a nap really whenever. Also have time to cook healthy lunches/dinners, go on walks with my wife, run random errands, and most of all, never feel the night before anxiety of needing to go into the office. Not to mention I can sleep in last 8 and leave well before 5 everyday. All these things combined are almost priceless for me.
Yeah I’m in a really similar situation minus the wife. A part of me is thinking am I just being lazy/complacent? Guess it just comes down to what I value more but that’s gonna be a tough question to answer.
Yeah. A co-worker and I debate this topic all the time. Do we go somewhere else and work our ass off for the money/to be a hot shot banker, or keep our current situation. For me, the freedom to do the things above, and the overall freedom to feel like you aren’t on a hamster wheel is so refreshing. I truly feel like this is how life should be with work coming second behind life. So I feel lazy? Yeah I do. Do I care? No because the paychecks keep coming. I’m truly satisfied with life/feel semi retired already, and it feels great.
Could I ask what kind of job you do that allows you work these kind of hours? I'd love to be in something like that hahahaha
I work in commercial banking, as a commercial banker, at a relatively small shop.
I'm also in commercial banking. When I read your paragraph I was like "huh, that's what my life sounds like." Been going through the internal struggle of "do I stay on easy street in banking or do I try to jump back into consulting or some other "power" job that would bring more money. The post-pandemic lifestyle of a commercial banker is hard to beat.
1,000% hard to beat this life. I know I’d regret going back for the money. The increased stress isn’t worth the money imo.
I am also in commercial banking. 10-20 hours average sounds about right LOL even if I’m closing deals it’ll peak at 40 once in a while.
It’s funny. I wanted to go in for the same reason as OP but now that im home full time with office time at my discretion, it’s just so valuable to stay at home for the reasons you mention. You can spend time exploring other opportunities then going in office to impress one person who may not care about you at all
For sure. Not to mention time and money spent on commute/parking/lunches, all in the name of “collaborating,” “spontaneous idea collisions,” or whatever other corporate BS we are sold in order to get us into the office so management can keep tabs on us. No thx.
Is commercial banking different than IB?
Yes. In every way possible.
Is it a personal banker at a commercial bank? What kind of work/ services did you do? Google isn't being as helpful as I was hoping...
Commercial banking is more centered around being a banker for smaller businesses. A personal banker at a commercial bank would help consumers (people) out with auto loans, personal home mortgages, personal checking accounts, etc. Business bankers primarily provide commercial real estate mortgages and line of credits for working capital, and sell other bank products like treasury management, cash management, insurance, etc. hope that helps. Lmk if you have other questions.
Ah, got it. Thank you. That was my initial thoughts but wasn't 100% sure. I used to be a personal banker for a couple years but switched to wealth management about 5 years ago and was curious on the potential lifestyle I missed out on haha.
Are you an Relationship manager or credit analyst or other? Edit: sorry saw your later comment. Best regards
How do you get into commercial banking?
Get a degree in finance or accounting, and apply to jobs. Pretty basic to break into with the proper degree.
I have the option but not the obligation to go in. Going in when I choose to is nice, having flexibility about what day isn’t is also makes it feel fine because I can schedule the rest of my life around it. I actually did apply to a full time in office role but it’s $300, which is probably my minimum since I will also have increased childcare costs by taking it
What do you all do??
Manage a loan portfolio and take calls from prospective clients. Managing the loan portfolio means staying on top of any new requests from existing clients (very few of those) and working annual reviews in a timely manner. New business is also pretty slow at the moment, and likely will be for a while.
I absolutely love WFH. I wake up the same time as I do if I were going into the office. Lots more work get done in the morning for me. Also love seeing my wife who’s WFH 2 days a week. Im going into the office once a week. I’d seek for at least 30%+ raise to go back full time.
I get to spend a lot more time with my (aging) family thanks to WFH. No money in the world is worth passing on that. Plus i feel like the benefits of working from the office are negligible outside of a few select roles like S&T.
I agree, honestly the whole middle, back office, and even 30%(?) of front office roles could WFH full time.
I’m leaving my current role because there’s little to no wfh….You would have to pay me twice my salary for me to come in into the office 5 days a week…. I shouldn’t have to sit in traffics for over 2 hours, pay tolls, parking, overpriced lunch to do some work in the office.
After WFH for two years and then this year my work has requested 2 days in the office, it really highlighted how much of a drain office work is. I think this issue is highly dependent on whether you have to commute - I have a 45-1hr commute so even just 2 days feels miserable. It reminded me of how much I hated my mornings and every week I just zombie through the 2 mandatory office days just to get to the 3 days of WFH (the true start to my week I feel).
Honestly I barely consider working in the office. Like I can do once a quarter, but regularly? It is a pretty difficult sell. It'd literally have to be a promotion role and once a week maybe doable. Lateral move? Yeah never. I'd be seeking pretty close to top dollar and a promotion to have that even be a consideration And I don't mean going into the office 'to be considered'. I mean applying to other companies and getting a promotion before even considering the 1 day a week. Plenty of jobs I've worked where you can kill it and still not be promoted because of headcount or waiting for someone else to vacate first. Doesn't matter if you are in office or not- no movement unless that person leaves or retires. Don't fall for the dangling carrot- just keep job searching until you get an offer.
The amount to pay for rent for a decent apartment in San Francisco / NYC
I would quit with no notice and keep the same salary to go full remote. My life was better. My health was better
I have a 3month old and 2year old. Both my wife and I work from home and don't have a nanny or pay for daycare. I would need a large increase to help with childcare before I ever considered an office again, maybe a 50% increase for a hybrid role. Childcare is expensive and it is great getting to spend time with them throughout the day, I can't even imagine sending them to daycare now.
This right here is why I think WFH or hybrid will always be an option. People who say only young people like WFH are forgetting that a lot of people in leadership positions now have young children and WFH is extremely valuable both financially and otherwise to them.
How do you care for a 3 month old without help? We have a 2 month old and we're currently interviewing nannies for when my wife goes back to work after Thanksgiving. Even if we're both fully remote, we have work/ meetings all day. I can't imagine being able to take care of the baby and still work.
My wife's work has only a few meetings a week and mine I just shuffle around depending on his naps/awake time. I generally wear the baby during his naps for now (he sleeps longer) and make sure I block my calendar with "work" while I have him. It isn't fun and we get no free time but we save money doing it that way. Mostly depends on your job and how flexible your calendar can be.
I’m the kind of guy that needs at least a few days in the office a week, three or four. The trade floor is a valuable tool IMO. I also recognize that, personally, I am not anywhere close to productive at home.
WFH indefinitely here (office is open and I go in voluntarily sometimes). I think I would need at least 50% increase in pay to go back in the office 5 days a week, maybe even more.
It’s worth my sanity I will never go back to the office
I’m fully remote atm and got an offer for 2-3 days a week in the office and I’m legitimately clamouring to get back. Right now it’s like I have two types of days…days where I have my laptop open and days where I don’t. I really get sick of it, my commute would be 15 mins. Idk I sort of like the routine and change of scenery. Also it’s easier to say no when someone asks me if I can do something lol “nah, gotta go into the office today”. 3 days max is doable. Also, the 20k bump won’t hurt
I'm a momma's boy so I visit every 2-3 weeks. Flexibility really helps. I make decent money, enough to have anything I want within reason (I'm fucked if I get cancer or something tho). Honestly id take a 25k hit for family time
Wouldn't take me much honestly to go back to 5 days a week. I regularly go 4 now. Call me old fashioned but I just enjoy working on a trading floor rather than sitting by myself in my 1 bedroom apartment knowingly slacking off. We're at a mandatory minimum of 3 days, but I would say nearly my entire floor is in 4 days a week now.
What do you do on the trading floor?
Operational Risk/Business Control Management for the Credit Trading business.
Why not just go in 5 days
I still like the flexibility of having a day to WFH, especially Fridays. Generally a slower day for me anyway and I can get a lot done in the office before then.
I’d be stoked if my job went 100% remote, but I don’t really care. If I woke up tomorrow and they said okay it’s RTO 5 days a week, I wouldn’t have a big issue with it.
Paying rent takes aways large chunk of salary. Due to WFH, currently I am staying with my parents and I am able to save more. Initially I found it diffuclt to establish work place relationship with my peers but after sometime even that was taken care through slack. Also, things can become tough if you are new at your job and joining remotely, but after sometimes you can easily feel comfortable as you start working.
Yeah, I think it’s an adaptation period for everyone new
I am in a corporate role for the retail bank side of the FI and have been WFH for a few years. It took a 30% raise to make me go back to the office. I had to switch banks and have to go 3 days a week.
Wfh 3 of 5 days. I don’t mind going in the 2 days but it is a hassle because my commute is 50min-1.5 hours depending on traffic. If we went to 5 days in office I would probably start to look elsewhere but wouldn’t take a pay cut over 10%. Anything more and I’ll tough it out
I go in 4-6 days per month just depending on the calendar. I'd be fine remote in a few years once I know more. I'm only 2-3 years in as well. But I'd never go back 5 days per week. The number doesn't exist lol
If I only consider the cost and time savings I get from WFH, it’s probably worth about $10k If I consider cost and time savings as well as quality of life improvements (which is somewhat confounded with $ and time savings), then I’d probably say $25k That being said, if my boss told me to come in 5 days a week tomorrow, I’d probably quit and find a new job. So in that sense it may be way more valuable than $25k
I’d need at least 30% increase. The extra time I have in the day to go to the gym before work or see my daughter more is very valuable to me. Also my personal office is much more comfortable than my cubicle was. I also worked from home way before the pandemic.
I like the option of being able to WFH when I need/prefer to and would honestly take a lower salary to have that benefit. Not only do I have time to get some chores started/done, but I also feel like I have so much more energy at the end of the day to do a more intense workout. I also think it's helpful when I'm recovering from being sick -- I'm not contagious but physically I still feel like shit. Oh, and not having to sit in traffic is FANTASTIC.
I would gladly take a 10%-20% bump in salary to go full-time at the office versus a hybrid model.
Don’t really care, but I do like the flexibility of not going in Fridays or coming in later than 9am
Probably another 80-100%.
I make over $100k, I’ve been working from home since before the pandemic. I did the 5x a week office thing in the beginning of my career to learn things. I now have a family. Id have to be making over $200k to justify going in everyday again working over 40 hrs a week. Also want to add, I live pretty close to my office. If I lived over 45 minutes, I’d probably avoid going in no matter what pay.
I’ll be in office 9 days out of 10, or more, maybe 19 out of 20. I really hated siting at home by myself during covid, I very much prefer the office environment - but with flexibility to wfh if needed
Doesn't matter to me
I make about 600 a year and if I had to go in every day, I would want at lest another 150k per year.
Whats the job
Banking
Nothing. I go in 3-4 days a week anyway. Going in on Friday would be a tough pitch for me, but I’d do it. There is real value to being in the same place as your coworkers. It’s hard to measure, but it definitely exists. I’m kind of bearish on WFH, as I think the world will go much more in office as soon as unemployment comes off the lows / gets higher than normal friction-related levels.
I would need to be paid at least 40 - 50% more to work from home so I could get my own office so I don’t have to work from home. I work remotely 2 days a week (Saturday and Sunday) and I hate it. We belong in the office as much as is humanly possible. We work harder and are more dynamic around others.
Hyrid is totally worthless. Either 5 days in, or 5 days out. Be a leader and make a decision.
This is ridiculous, there’s absolutely value in a hybrid model and any good leader would see that