Over the past few years, company culture has been on a steep decline. Executive leadership has reversed its flexible remote-work policy, previously two days per week in office (through rarely enforced) to a strict four days per week mandate. Many employees now commute primarily to attend Zoom meetings from their desks. There is a general sense that the company is indifferent to the well-being of staff, which represents a tidal wave shift from the previous experience, where policies such as Rejuventation Days (extra company wide holidays) made employees feel cared for and valued. Middle managers are overburdened with increased responsibilities amid reduced resources (due to inability to fill positions because of RTO policy and flight of institutional knowledge) and significantly reduced employee motivation.
Leadership treats employees as interchangeable commodities and made the incorrect assumption that voluntary attrition from RTO would be minimal and could be easily replaced in any case. This calculation has proven incorrect: top talent - those with the most external options - have departed for more flexible roles elsewhere, leaving critical vacancies that are difficult or impossible to fill in a competitive market. Look at the number of open positions currently, which underscores the scale of this challenge. Turnover costs are substantial, extending far beyond simply headcount to include the permanent loss of institutional knowledge.
The situation is poised to worsen once the four-day mandate is enforced for all employees (currently delayed for those without assigned desks due to insufficient office space). The prior remote model enabled access to the strongest national talent pool, while the new policy restricts hiring to only those willing to accept a rigorous in-office requirement.
Prospective applicants should carefully contemplate joining Pacific Life given the direction of company culture and RTO mandate. Ongoing attrition is likely to accelerate as employees weigh lengthy commutes (often 1+ hours each way), local housing costs (median ~$3.5M in Newport Beach), and diminished job satisfaction. The company continues to benefit from momentum created by earlier remote-era hires, but this competitive advantage will erode and will soon become a liability. Leadership is unlikely to reverse course, as doing so would require acknowledging a policy error.
Forcing physical presence - sitting in cubicles, enduring traffic, and watching the clock - is being conflated with "culture." True culture stems from hiring passionate individuals, fostering trust through meaningful collaboration, and aligning on shared intent, not mandating proximity.
