A Wave of Resignations in the Aftermath of Remote Onboarding

2025-10-07

AI Summary

This study investigates how remote onboarding affects organizational belongingness and long-term retention among software engineers. Leveraging Ericsson’s HR big data (2016–2025), we conduct time-series analyses linking work modality (on-site, remote, hybrid) with attrition events, supplemented by exit interview validation. Results show that pandemic-era remote onboarding significantly increased three-year attrition—particularly among junior employees with ≤5 years of experience. Our key contribution is identifying *attenuated organizational belongingness* as the central mediating mechanism driving early turnover. To address this, we propose a “structured on-the-job integration” intervention: newly onboarded engineers must co-locate and collaborate intensively with senior peers to strengthen socio-professional ties. Implementation of this evidence-based policy enabled the organization to restore retention rates to pre-pandemic levels. The findings provide empirical support for designing hybrid work practices in knowledge-intensive firms—grounded in belongingness theory and mentorship-enabled socialization.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Software Engineering
• Machine Learning: Life-Long and Continual Learning
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Knowledge Engineering

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Attacks and countermeasures in recommendation systems
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web learning to rank, online learning, and counterfactual learning for ranking
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Trust and reliance of crowd workers and data experts on GenAI

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered workplace structures, normalizing remote work. However, critical evidence highlights challenges with fully remote arrangements, particularly for software teams. This study investigates employee resignation patterns at Ericsson, a global developer of software-intensive systems, before, during, and after the pandemic. Using HR data from 2016-2025 in Ericsson Sweden, we analyze how different work modalities (onsite, remote, and hybrid) influence employee retention. Our findings show a marked increase in resignations from summer 2021 to summer 2023, especially among employees with less than five years of tenure. Employees onboarded remotely during the pandemic were significantly more likely to resign within their first three years, even after returning to the office. Exit surveys suggest that remote onboarding may fail to establish the necessary organizational attachment, the feeling of belonging and long-term retention. By contrast, the company's eventual successful return to pre-pandemic retention rates illustrates the value of differentiated work policies and supports reconsidering selective return-to-office (RTO) mandates. Our study demonstrates the importance of employee integration practices in hybrid environments where the requirement for in-office presence for recent hires shall be accompanied by in-office presence from their team members and more senior staff whose mentoring and social interactions contribute to integration into the corporate work environment. We hope these actionable insights will inform HR leaders and policymakers in shaping post-pandemic work practices, demonstrating that carefully crafted hybrid models anchored in organizational attachment and mentorship can sustain retention in knowledge-intensive companies.

Problem

• Investigating remote onboarding's impact on employee resignation patterns
• Analyzing how work modalities influence retention in software teams
• Examining organizational attachment failure in remote work integration

Innovation

• Analyzed HR data across multiple work modalities
• Identified remote onboarding's impact on employee retention
• Proposed hybrid models with mentorship and office presence