Thread regarding U.S. Bank layoffs

I am so with you on this. I did the same thing and have experienced crickets. The thought of returning to an office environment leaves me cold. The building and offices themselves were filthy pre-pandemic and I don't expect that to change. Losing 2 hours a day to a commute and the attendant loss of sleep isn't brilliant either. It's a shame that for those who are not customer facing, have been thriving in a work from home environment cannot remain continuing in that form.

If you follow the sage advice of Miguel Ruiz (The Four Agreements) and learn not to take anything personally, you can avoid a great deal of anguish and disappointment. If you want to know how your colleagues feel about you, ask them. I'll bet they were grateful for your phone calls and regret they didn't make calls like you did. For most people accustomed to working in an office, adjusting to WFH is quite a challenge. With the added stress of children at home, spouses, worries about family members, etc.; I imagine they were on overdrive. If you had all of those things AND were organized and thoughtful enough to reach out, you are amazing! If you were reaching out because you needed their support, you should have told them how you were feeling and ask them to call you because you were feeling...lonely, off kilter, whatever. Noone can read your mind and expecting anything from others is a recipe for disaster. I'm sure you will be able to work things out if you are honest with them about your feelings without accusing them of being insensitive. You might say something like, "I really missed our talks and time together while we were working from home. I hope we can rebuild our close friendship now that we are back in the office again." I'm sure you will rekindle old friendships when things go back to a more normal routine.

People are busy. Many are doing more work and are overloaded. I myself can honestly say working from home has been the biggest perk over the last 18 months but it is busy. I save a lot of time commuting now while working remotely and definitely do not want to return to office on hybrid schedule so I am glad for the “moments that matter” approach vs the 3 days a week in the office was rolled out today. Even at home I eat my lunch while working without any breaks because the workload is overwhelming and really no time for small talk. I can’t imagine going to the office spending countless minutes talking to people who like to chat knowing how much work I have to get done. Not going to happen with this workload.

This is widespread. WFH seems to lead to a narrowing of the other workers that you interact with. Certainly isolation for many. Way fewer casual conversations getting a cup of coffee that are related to work or not. Losing track of people that used to be part of your team but moved on.

Another aspect of WFH, it's not for everyone. Some very active workers have kind of disappeared. I can think of one manager that never seems to be logged on anymore. The past two years has been an experience.

I question more how you have not interacted with these “co-workers” in all this time. Are they not on your team and merely “acquaintances” that you have at work, you know, someone you would be cordial to in the elevator but not necessarily go out to lunch with?