Many City of Vancouver employees are unhappy that they’ll be forced to spend more time in the office starting next year, and might even consider quitting because of it.

And some of them believe that’s actually the point.

With the city in cost-cutting mode ahead of the 2026 budget, some non-union employees have already been laid off in recent months and potentially hundreds of additional job cuts could be ahead.

In this environment, some workers believe city management’s recent push to reduce staff’s ability to work from home — including five-day-a-week return-to-office mandates for non-union employees — is intended to nudge people toward the door.

“The general feeling is that this is being done as a strategy to get rid of people,” said one longtime employee, echoing a sentiment shared

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