Does anyone thinking about leaving fed job (or taking a break) if forced to RTO 5 days a week?

[Anonymous]

My private sector DH is the higher earner and the only reason we are tethered to this area is because of my fed job. It would not be worth it to our family to stay in this area with one parent having to be in an office 5 days per week (the added cost of after care, commuting, etc.) and stress on our family would just suck.

I’d first search for another job in this area, I have feelers out and am pretty sure I could land somewhere. But if nothing works out, we could just move to a lower COL area near family and live off my DH’s income. We have 13 years of home equity we could use to buy a nice home with cash (or small mortgage) elsewhere.

I hate thinking like this though because I know the MAGA sociopaths would love the idea of a woman leaving the workforce and a family moving out of the DC area.

[Anonymous]

I'm the default parent and my job pays significantly less than my spouse's. I can certainly up and quit but I enjoy keeping occupied for now. The problem is in addition to several extra hours a day wasted on a long commute that make question long term viability of the position in the first place, I would have to find someone to pick my Kindergartener (FCPS) up at the bus stop in the afternoon (I already pay for SACC before care but I would miss the bus in the pm by about 10-15 min meaning full pay after care doesn't make sense). Hoping any RTO fizzles but next best would be to start as late as possible, ideally after June.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the higher earner in my household, so I will go back. I already bought a parking pass just in case. It will cost us plenty in driving/parking but the big impact is to my non-fed DH, who will need to limit himself to remote roles so he can handle the to/from school situation. Right now we split it because we each work hybrid.

What did you do before COVID in terms of getting kids to and from school situation?

Not PP but I was remote before COVID.

A different PP but my kids were previously in daycare with longer full time hours. Now they’re in school which is a different situation with before/ after care, school closures, and summer camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the higher earner in my household, so I will go back. I already bought a parking pass just in case. It will cost us plenty in driving/parking but the big impact is to my non-fed DH, who will need to limit himself to remote roles so he can handle the to/from school situation. Right now we split it because we each work hybrid.

What did you do before COVID in terms of getting kids to and from school situation?

We were both hybrid before covid, too. I've been 80% WFH since 2018 and before that I was 40% WFH for 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the higher earner in my household, so I will go back. I already bought a parking pass just in case. It will cost us plenty in driving/parking but the big impact is to my non-fed DH, who will need to limit himself to remote roles so he can handle the to/from school situation. Right now we split it because we each work hybrid.

What did you do before COVID in terms of getting kids to and from school situation?

We were both hybrid before covid, too. I've been 80% WFH since 2018 and before that I was 40% WFH for 10 years.

Also, not PP and my kids are older teens so I could manage a full RTO, but remember the pandemic was five years ago. People could well have had toddlers in daycare back then or a nanny and now the kids are in elementary school. A lot of time has passed.

[Anonymous]

I'm also staying aware of being the frog in the pot and if they really start treating us like crap, I'll leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live close enough I could but as you pointed out, we also simply don't have the space. Enough of my colleagues are out of state remote and live in other states for unshakable reasons (family, spouse's job). We have been remote for over a decade, well before COVID.

So those of us who did RTO would be the band on the Titanic, playing as the ship goes down. We're fee funded, if we can't deliver work, people won't file anymore and we'll collapse and the global system will shift to one of our foreign counterparts.

USPTO? I don't think examiners will be RTO 5 days a week.

I doubt it because the tech industry would freak out. Because patent pendent would go through the roof.

Big Tech is post patent. They don’t need actual legal right to squelch competitors or claims against them.

They dominate on execution and capital, less so on in-house innovation. Like OpenAI is built on open source models, etc. the patent wars was a 2000s phenomenon

Now they give them away https://medium.com/@mk_26304/the-genius-behind-teslas-patent-giveaway-how-elon-musk-played-the-game-to-win-big-09f75a10c9bc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My private sector DH is the higher earner and the only reason we are tethered to this area is because of my fed job. It would not be worth it to our family to stay in this area with one parent having to be in an office 5 days per week (the added cost of after care, commuting, etc.) and stress on our family would just suck.

I’d first search for another job in this area, I have feelers out and am pretty sure I could land somewhere. But if nothing works out, we could just move to a lower COL area near family and live off my DH’s income. We have 13 years of home equity we could use to buy a nice home with cash (or small mortgage) elsewhere.

I hate thinking like this though because I know the MAGA sociopaths would love the idea of a woman leaving the workforce and a family moving out of the DC area.

Okay? Lots of families have two full time working parents, with long daycare hours or split shifts.

If you don’t have to live near your DH job, then you are free to live near YOUR job, so your commute is not that long, so why is this so impactful you will move over it?

[Anonymous]

I think about it but probably not. We were considering a move that would lengthen my commute and have shelved it.

If you’ve been government 15 years, then know if you leave and come back you’ll be in the higher amount of pension contribution.

[Anonymous]

I'll go back. I'll be much more of a clock watcher, though.

However, we are 50% in the office, as we don't have space for everyone. Where will they put us?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My private sector DH is the higher earner and the only reason we are tethered to this area is because of my fed job. It would not be worth it to our family to stay in this area with one parent having to be in an office 5 days per week (the added cost of after care, commuting, etc.) and stress on our family would just suck.

I’d first search for another job in this area, I have feelers out and am pretty sure I could land somewhere. But if nothing works out, we could just move to a lower COL area near family and live off my DH’s income. We have 13 years of home equity we could use to buy a nice home with cash (or small mortgage) elsewhere.

I hate thinking like this though because I know the MAGA sociopaths would love the idea of a woman leaving the workforce and a family moving out of the DC area.

Okay? Lots of families have two full time working parents, with long daycare hours or split shifts.

If you don’t have to live near your DH job, then you are free to live near YOUR job, so your commute is not that long, so why is this so impactful you will move over it?

Because she doesn't love it here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live close enough I could but as you pointed out, we also simply don't have the space. Enough of my colleagues are out of state remote and live in other states for unshakable reasons (family, spouse's job). We have been remote for over a decade, well before COVID.

So those of us who did RTO would be the band on the Titanic, playing as the ship goes down. We're fee funded, if we can't deliver work, people won't file anymore and we'll collapse and the global system will shift to one of our foreign counterparts.

It sounds like you work for USPTO and refer to TEAPP colleagues who live anywhere in the 48 contiguous United States. The TEAPP program is established by federal statute and can’t be undone without an act of Congress. Because of the fee-funded structure of the PTO, the fact that our work is on quota and quantifiable, and given that our TEAPP and telework programs far pre-date COVID, I believe it will be at least 4 years before the administration makes undoing our norms a priority.

[Anonymous]

I don't really have another option, but my commute would be crushing (I was hired remote!) so I'd certainly update my resume and keep an eye our.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My private sector DH is the higher earner and the only reason we are tethered to this area is because of my fed job. It would not be worth it to our family to stay in this area with one parent having to be in an office 5 days per week (the added cost of after care, commuting, etc.) and stress on our family would just suck.

I’d first search for another job in this area, I have feelers out and am pretty sure I could land somewhere. But if nothing works out, we could just move to a lower COL area near family and live off my DH’s income. We have 13 years of home equity we could use to buy a nice home with cash (or small mortgage) elsewhere.

I hate thinking like this though because I know the MAGA sociopaths would love the idea of a woman leaving the workforce and a family moving out of the DC area.

Okay? Lots of families have two full time working parents, with long daycare hours or split shifts.

If you don’t have to live near your DH job, then you are free to live near YOUR job, so your commute is not that long, so why is this so impactful you will move over it?

And that’s exactly what we as a society should be discouraging. Allow parents to work with WFH or hybrid arrangements so that kids are not sitting in daycare for 10 hrs, it’s not good for the kids. Support working parents and we might get a society with more functional people, destroy and overwork families and we will deserve every bit of dysfunction coming our way.

I am not a Fed btw, I do feel strongly about this issue though. If hybrid work environment is getting the work done and a family is able to have healthier meals, plus their kids spend more time with parents then what exactly is the problem? This should be a no brainer, I can understand PPs for argument coming from an uneducated person but not from a supposedly educated person. Shame on you, PP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the higher earner in my household, so I will go back. I already bought a parking pass just in case. It will cost us plenty in driving/parking but the big impact is to my non-fed DH, who will need to limit himself to remote roles so he can handle the to/from school situation. Right now we split it because we each work hybrid.

What did you do before COVID in terms of getting kids to and from school situation?

Np here. A lot of us have childcare activities and arrangements that are completely different than they were 5-6 years ago.
When our first was born we lived in DC. DH was a graduate student and I commuted daily to the office. My DD’s daycare was in my downtown federal building.

When DD was almost 3 we moved to a different state for DH’s job. I stayed with my agency and was required to go to my office 45 mins away one day a week. DD’s daycare was on the same campus as my DH’s job. Our second DD went there too. During this time our office changed to a location 1.5 hours away for me, which was part of my choice to go part time for a while. I worked from home 3 days, commuted one, and took one off.

Our older daughter was in elementary school when the pandemic hit, but younger DD’s daycare closed. DH lost his job and I worked fulltime from home. We never returned to requiring in-office work, but we do travel for work. When DD found a new job it was also work from home and we put younger DD in daycare in our neighborhood. Because of challenges finding caregivers, it changed its hours to be 8:30-5 (pre pandemic it was 7:30-6). That worked fine for us since we were two blocks away and could stagger our work days but wouldn’t have worked if we were commuting. Now my older DD takes a city bus (no school buses in our town) to and from middle school. She doesn’t need after care but I like that we’re home with her. My younger DD can be dropped off at 8:15 and has to be picked up from aftercare by 6. If I were commuting daily leaving at 7 and getting home at 7 we’d need other care. Also, right now when I rarely go in I take a taxi or Lyft to the train station. If I went to the office daily we’d need to buy a second car or I’d need to leave by 6:40 am to catch a bus that goes to the train station