A THOUGHT FROM YRS TRULY


MJ Widomska, Founder and Director at YRS TRULY, gets into why there is no one- size-fits-all solution when it comes to getting people to do their best work


I


f you’re unlucky enough to have LinkedIn and, shock and horror, scroll through it sometimes, you’re almost certainly familiar with the Remote versus Return-to-Office (RTO) discourse. Like everything else on there, it’s usually written with far too many paragraph breaks, very little nuance, and a high likelihood of AI assistance. Yet, in spite of that, it’s a conversation worth having. The games industry has recently seen a


pretty brutal reversal of WFH policies. It’s not uncommon for staff hired on a remote- only basis to be asked to return to the office, often a significant commute away. Employees who moved further away from major cities need to consider packing up again and returning closer to offices. Many will be caught between a rock and a hard place: with widespread layoffs, job security is paramount, but why move if you could find yourself redundant in a few months? The discourse is never-ending because


there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Perhaps controversially, I like being in the office and I like hybrid working, but that’s coloured by my experience working in marketing, a very collaborative discipline. If I needed peace and quiet to do my job, I would like being around my chatty colleagues a whole lot less.


Where things really go sour, however, is in the murky motivations behind businesses implementing mandatory RTO policies. If you can’t make a compelling case to your own employees on why they should be back in the office, then your reasoning is not good enough. Many businesses are able to articulate that successfully: perhaps they work with highly confidential information that needs to be stored on-site, or have constant client or partner visits, or work


20 | MCV/DEVELOP August/September 2025


return. Your pay doesn’t change, neither do your benefits, and you’re essentially worse off, given the cost of commuting. If you’re putting your staff in this position, no wonder they’re asking themselves what the point of it all is. Here’s my hot take: if you really, really,


“If I needed peace and quiet to do my job, I would


like being around my chatty colleagues a whole lot less.”


with physical products. What we’re seeing in games, however, is a reversal of policies that have been successful and increased employee comfort, with nothing gained in


really want your staff back in the office, for a reason that is not absolutely necessary (for example, you believe they’ll be more collaborative), you need to offer them something in return. An interesting example of this comes from Splash Damage, where staff were offered a four-day week if they chose to return to the office, with adjustments given to employees who needed them. This policy introduced a very tangible benefit to being in office, and gave the remote staff an option to just keep things as they were. Outside of a shorter working week, you should also check whether your salaries match the cost of living in your chosen area. This is especially important for starting salaries, as you may otherwise exclude entry-level talent. Here’s something that gets left out of WFH-vs-office discussions online, however: if being in the office is both fun and productive … it’s not difficult to lure staff back in. Our office is frequented much more often than the mandated once-a-week, for a variety of reasons: the atmosphere is friendly, lunch options are plentiful and exciting, the AC is a lifesaver, the comfort of work is high, and the distance is manageable. We think a lot about what the purpose of our office is, and what it offers our staff.


Perhaps next time you find yourself pondering a return to the office mandate, ask yourself: who benefits?


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56