Co-Founder & CEO of software company if.team Oleg Frolov shared his vision for the pet policy in offices, which was recently discussed by IT professionals. He believes that pet-friendly is «about respect for colleagues» and can be disruptive on a permanent basis.
Co-Founder & CEO of software company if.team Oleg Frolov shared his vision for the pet policy in offices, which was recently discussed by IT professionals. He believes that pet-friendly is «about respect for colleagues» and can be disruptive on a permanent basis.
This is how Frolov reacted to the discussion in the Ukrainian IT community of a situation where the developer refused the offer because the employer had an office that was not pet-friendly.
«I couldn’t deny myself the pleasure of throwing some firewood. So hold on: a pet-friendly office is not a must-have and not even necessarily the norm. I’ll explain why,» wrote the co-founder of if.team.
He said that he has two children and is «categorically in favor» of letting him and his children go everywhere.
«But I don’t think it’s normal for them to be in the office constantly or often (even though I’m the boss there and can generally do whatever I want). Because it’s not about tolerance for children, it’s about respect for colleagues, for whom your children and their behavior can create discomfort where they didn’t sign up for it,» explained Oleg Frolov.
He pointed out that situations vary and children and animals can be taken to the office when there is no one to leave them with.
«And sometimes you can bring a pet just so that everyone scratches it behind the ear and says what a cool dog you have (and along with it, you are cool too). But I wouldn’t normalize this on a permanent basis — unless absolutely everyone in the office is definitely not against it,» the IT worker notes.
According to him, «it’s not about tolerance for children or dogs,» but about respect for colleagues who may be hindered in various ways.
Recently, on the social network Threads, a twilight developer said that she turned down a job because she could n’t imagine working 4–5 days in a non-pet-friendly office. This thread was shared on LinkedIn by Fedir Alpatov, Senior Fullstack Website Developer, where a discussion about animals in offices flared up.
Recall that earlier, Oleg Frolov, together with his partner, created an application for cultivating healthy habits in children aged 5–12, Do it!.
