#policy

AT&T tracked employee attendance to find 'freeloaders.' Now, it admits the system is driving workers to the 'brink of frustration

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/t-tracked-employee-attendance-freeloaders-095701036.html

AT&T is dialing down its use of a controversial attendance tracking system for enforcing its RTO policy.

The so-called presence report uses a combination of inputs to log employees' time in the office.

The company's CMO says its goal of finding "freeloaders" has been met, though trust issues remain.

AT&T is reducing its reliance on an employee-attendance tracking system, admitting to workers that it hasn't been fully accurate and is "driving people to the brink of frustration."

The system, known internally as presence reporting, automatically tracks the hours workers spend at their assigned office. Most are required to log at least eight hours a day, five days a week, on-site.

Go read on the Chevron board—-looks like they are going to have to be in the office 4 days/week beginning January 1st.

Will Shell in the US follow? I think there may be space issues in the UK, so I don’t think they can implement it there,

Can someone tell me how to report a safety issue here? I have asked several people and get a who cares, nothing will be done. WTF people. Anybody, I really mean can anybody tell me who to call?

What do you think of H1b's in business orgs without business degrees and moving from Tech. H1b's are specialized skills got for special areas like Tech and shouldn't change roles. Can we report them to USCIS ?

I regret not EOI’ing, can we change our mind before the selection meetings? - real question.

Do not commit time fraud. Don’t give any reason to be fired. Good luck

The company and John Stankey have made it clear that the direction is for employees to be colocated in Dallas. It doesn’t make sense for us to operate and keep open hubs or offices across the U.S. for a distributed workforce. Either relocate to Dallas or quit.

And none of this nonsense of I work in a (fake) hub located in LA, St Louis, or Arkansas city. I have specialized skills or deliver exceptional value nonsense. We run a dynamic customer-facing business, tackling large-scale, challenging initiatives. This is why we work in person, together in Dallas, during common working hours. If working in another city is important to you, then do it for some other company.

In case you all needed another reason to hate your jobs, here’s a fun treat for those who are going into the new Lake Mary, FL office that opens next week. HR has confirmed swipe out badge readers have been installed, and advised “Elevance expects all associates to remain on-site for the duration of the workday.”

This should be done long time ago!

Has anyone else received a request to complete a background check? What did it include, and what specifically are they checking for?….. seems off

The power sways in the direction of management again. Is this new mandate being broadly implemented across the bank or are only some divisions being held to the four day a week in office standard?

Story by Jessica Coacc

Rather than trimming down headcounts by enforcing layoffs, business leaders from across the U.S. told the Federal Reserve Beige Book they’re hoping that upping their in-person requirements will do the job.

The Fed Beige Book report, published eight times a year, summarizes current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. It is based on interviews with business leaders, economists, and other local contacts for a real-time look at the economy.

The report highlighted that multiple districts this month have “encouraged” attrition with return-to-office mandates.

A separate survey of 849 managers reveals 3 in 10 companies will require employees to work in-office five days a week by the end of the year, driven by corporate shifts and new regulations. Meanwhile, more than half of Fortune 100 desk workers already have workplaces with fully in-office policies, according to new data from real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle.

Just yesterday, tech giant Microsoft said its employees will be required to go back into the office 3 days per week. Though Microsoft has had rounds of letting people go this year, Amy Coleman, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, assured employees in a memo yesterday “this update is not about reducing headcount,” and instead is “about working together in a way that enables us to meet our customers’ needs.”

Workers aren’t sold on badging in—but the grass may not be greener on the other side
Almost half of workers say that if their employer no longer allowed them to work from home, they would be unlikely to stay at their job, including about a quarter who say they’d be very unlikely to stay, according to a 2025 poll by Pew Research Center.

But even for the workerks who ditch their jobs in response to more days commuting to the office, the grass might not be greener on the other side of the corporate job market.

Across the white collar job market, employment has looked increasingly frozen for job seekers. Non-degree earners like bartenders and baristas in hospitality jobs are seeing bigger wage growth than office workers right now, as demand for in-person job experiences has surged post-pandemic.

Another nail in the coffin? AI. The Fed’s Beige Book also referenced the technology that is assisting organizations with silently trimming down headcount.

Bosses have previously admitted RTO mandates were to make staff quit, but some workers are ignoring the new rules
Though the Fed’s research was published last week, it’s not the first time CEO’s have admitted RTO mandates were meant to make staff quit.

In 2024, a survey of over 1500 U.S. managers found that a quarter of C-suite executives hoped for some voluntary turnover among workers after implementing a RTO policy—with one in five HR professionals admitting their in-office policy was meant to make staff quit.

But even though bosses are the ones making their staff come back in, they’re the ones who are notably zooming in on in-person meetings themselves. In fact, 93% of CEOs say they don’t go into the office full-time and have instead adopted flexible working patterns.

And despite employers sending out email memos on new mandates, a report from Resume Builder found that 1 in 5 workers are ignoring their new in-person policies too.

https://fortune.com/2025/09/10/bosses-using-return-to-office-mandates-to-trim-down-teams-without-needing-to-announce-layoffs/

What are the justifications for entire orgs like Torretta to be set to NVW? Wtf? Someone’s gotta bring this injustice to light man! This ain’t fair! We all know none of us actually need to be in an office, why did they get an exception?

So what do you do? Move to Dallas or Not ? Its really that simple

When we were told that they were cutting out some of our PTO,VTO, 401K and holidays to allign to the industry standard, I asked myself why are we not LEADING the industry standard. That is how quality staff is retained and businesses grow.

Have to start going into office 4x a week min 6 hours a day starting 1/1/26. Talk about id--tic.

If we’re not opting in do we opt out or just leave it and not sign anything?

Did Humana just send an email acti by like positive changes were made and they basically hacked many of our benefits? This company has become a joke.

Is this another cost-cutting move by the bean counters at corporate?

Can’t wait to see what cost-cutting moves they make with the health insurance open-enrollment next month.

How does this apply? I know of several people getting a referral added to their monthly goal, for just that. How is that right? Any CWP people who can share?

“At times, when team members take leave or mention personal commitments, it can be perceived as reduced loyalty to the firm. Having a culture where taking leave is seen as normal would improve trust and morale.”
“Sometimes growth opportunities feel tied to whether a manager believes a team member might stay long-term, rather than transparent performance criteria. Clearer promotion guidance would help remove that perception.”
“There is a sense that career development discussions are limited, and focus is more on delivery and job continuity. More open conversations about growth and promotions would help to employees below D level”

Are these going away at the first of the year?

I am asking as a “ Care Navigator “… nurse with tons of clinical experience… working with CW who the h$ll are our leaders? Why aren’t they front and center? And why are we not eligible for ERP because our opinions do not matter. We are working our butts off … for what?? I would love to take the ERP and be done! That being said, I would not let my dog be treated by ANYONE at Centerwell!

With everything going on with H1Bs and talks about an outsourcing tax has BNY thought about focusing more on hiring in the US?

The tax itself seems unlikely, but it still is going to influence the amount of outsourcing a company does. Can’t have all experts abroad and get hit with a massive tax bill because you have no experts in the US.

By Emily Chow and Marwa Rashad
September 9, 2025

• Exxon Mobil targets new LNG markets in Asia Pacific, Africa, Latam

• LNG-fueled trucks and marine vessels are massive growth areas in China

• Exxon dismisses LNG oversupply concerns, expects demand to meet new supply

First LNG from Sabine Pass Train 1 seen around year-end

MILAN, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), expects strong growth in demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in China, driven by transport and marine sectors, and sees rising opportunities in new markets across Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America, a senior company executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

China, the world's largest LNG importer, signed deals on September 2 to boost gas supply through the existing Power of Siberia pipeline and to build the Power of Siberia 2, raising concerns in that this could displace China's appetite for imported LNG.

What will the AM merchandisers job be and responsibilities be once the freight flow team starts ?

Thoughts on if this would derail outsourcing work?

"The bill, introduced on Friday and known as the "Halting International Relocation of Employment Act" or "HIRE Act," creates a 25% tax on "outsourcing payments" which are defined as any money paid by a U.S. company or taxpayer to a foreign person whose work benefits U.S. consumers.

The bill also includes anti-abuse language to prevent tax avoidance via U.S. territories and requires U.S. firms to fully disclose all outsourcing payments and contracts. Companies will also be prohibited from deducting any outsourcing payments." From https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senator-drops-hammer-companies-shipping-jobs-overseas-crucial-bill.amp

I mean if you truly want to be on safe turf just relocate and follow all the rules to the T. Actual work? - do as little of it as possible until you reach the exit sign.

Lol TAC will be expected to cover weekends as required without getting extra pay. TAC engineers are losing their mind.

The energy department said wind and solar capacity is ‘worthless’ without sunlight or wind. Elon Musk reminds DoE about batteries: ‘Um… hello?’

for anyone working on the customer service side and taking phone calls or working as an OE, starting this month they are making impossible to meet metrics mandatory, you need a 90%+ adherence rate, and all your survey statistics from members need to be above 90%

If a single metric or survey statistic is not meeting, you will be sent to the office at least 2x a week, if more than one is not meeting or you do not get it fixed within a month, its 5x a week.

Also, if a single member calls in and their inquiry is not resolved, you need to go into the office 2x a week.

The analysis and expectations from WFM are that the peak season will not be peak at all and barely anyone will be calling in due to how many people are leaving all plans across the board, they want people to quit because they know that people are not at fault when members give everyone bad surveys but they force them to go into the office anyway. Tons of time off is still being offered because they have far more agents than demand and it keeps getting worse.

It can only hurt you!

scoop: Microsoft has just announced a return to office policy. Three days in the office will soon be the new norm for Microsoft employees in late February. "This update is not about reducing headcount," says Microsoft's chief people officer.

https://www.theverge.com/report/774414/microsoft-return-to-office-policy-announcement

If you agree post it.

I’m hearing rumblings that we are moving to a 4 days in office. Is it true and do you think it’s for a short period of time

https://www.businessinsider.com/nbcu-severance-package-details-rto-mandate-four-days-week-memo-2025-9

Does anyone know if you receive it as one lump sum or bi-weekly for the duration of your severance?