What in the he-l is wrong with RTO? I'm sure most of you complaining are the same people taking vacations, going to bars/ clubs, gyms and movie theaters with the general public so why can't you go into an office an work?... Be thankful you have a Job because one day you'll be laid off like so many this year!
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This location strategy is going to really hurt WF in the long run. We work in a dispersed world and company this size can handle it, and was handling it for many years. If we can offshore to India and Philippines we can do remote in the onshore. Offshore groups need onshore support and they are not in the same location, not even close. So that "we work better together" is conditional.
I am open to new ideas, if they make sense, and this does not. We should be hiring the best people regardless of location, with consideration of labor laws of course. The amount of knowledge and expertise my team has lost through RTO attrition is downright criminal. So now we cannot meet the demand with who's left and are hiring. But guess what, no one is applying because of the location strategy and RTO. Candidates that live in the right locations want do RTO and others don't live in the right locations. When they do hire, the current team will be overworked from doing their job and training new people. The new people will get the bare minimum and be expected to be great.
This is going to be just like the fake account scandal by taking years to fix. Oh yeah, we never got that all fixed did we?
Who said anything about covid? In office is amazing if you're working with your team on site. Otherwise, it's a huge waste of our own resources to achieve exactly the same results as working remotely.
OP is right
It all makes perfect sense if "encouraging" voluntary resignations is the primary objective. In Charlie's perfect world, his exec team would be in the tower in NYC, and all the rest of the employees would be tech types in India. Everyone else is just an expense to be done away with at the first opportunity.
@2vcf because some of those jobs require people capable of making decisions under pressure. A skill that is sorely lacking in offshore resources.
Why wouldn't WF offshore all jobs that can be done from home? They would save millions per year
oh shut up @OP+1ikTbkyv
Corporations have been driving employees to work remotely for years. They stopped assigning desks, traded in our desktops for laptops, either provided us with cellphones or highly encouraged the use of our own devices, created all kinds of applications to make remote work viable, and now that we had the largest pandemic and the greatest climate change alarm, they want us back in the office. If you have been paying attention, none of this makes any logical sense.
They can try. It will fail miserably. Even 3 days has failed. Probably 30% compliance or less once you remove the employees that never worked from home. 5 days in office will tank morale and production even more. FRTO and the NYC clown it rode in on.
WFH is on borrowed time. Come Jan 1 it'll be 5 days in the office.
I wish we had a office to return too. Be glad you won't be laid off like me, after years and years of service. Jobs aren't paying the same and now I have to work in a building with the public. Best of luck to you all
I've been working for Wells for decades In Office and WFH was Never an option. Ive been WFH during the pandemic. If you don't want to work in an office, find another job. Kids are back in schools, servers been back in restaurants. Sorryz not sorry.
Many of us were hired as "Full Time Telecommuters", but part of that package was a reduced salary commensurate with the "savings benefit" of not having to pay costs associated with commuting and other office life. Car payments, gasoline, parking fees, wardrobe, commute time, etc.
WF touted all this as part of their "benefits package". It was all laid out in our hiring paperwork, where we were told that we were actually getting more money NET by virtue of not having to spend commute related dollars.
Now, WF rips up these agreements - that THEY signed and that WE signed - and tells us that we must now "return" to an office (that we never had in the first place), while remaining at the same telecommuter level of pay.
That's why so many people are deadset against RTO.
There are whole groups who don't RTO. And some people WFH before the pandemic. The 'blanket' policy is the problem.
Gonna be tough working my second job from the office
You can't RTO but sending kids to school all day is ok?!? Sorry but if a small percentage can't work from home then no one should. We do have coworkers who have always worked in the office. I guess it depends on your state.
Some of us were top performers and 100% WFH long before COVID. I'm sure some people's production stinks in WFH mode. On the other hand, some people's production goes down in office with all the distractions and noise, so neither approach is really justified by people that are the exception. All that matters is your production relative to your work load. If you're getting your work done at a high level, who's to say that WFH isn't better the company?
I also have no peers, directs, or manager anywhere near my assigned location. Going there is a COMPLETE waste of time, and the ridiculous one size fits all justification for it which doesn't even apply in situations like mine sure as heck isn't helping production or morale. RTO can F off, and so can everyone carrying the water for that stupid blanket policy.
Blame it on the people who think being more productive means getting the laundry done, watching Dr Phil, walking the dog, and picking up the kids on company time. And who think interrupting meetings with “Not now honey “ Mommy’s busy honey” “ Go watch TV honey” “Wave at the camera honey” is cute.
Of course everyone says they’re being more productive. Unfortunately that means different things to different people. A clean house doesn’t count. But we’re going back to the office because too many people don’t get that.
OP
There is nothing wrong with RTO, I just got used to WFH, the savings and comfort finally won me over. See, I use to be an office guy until we were forced to stay home. I would rarely WFH because of doctors appointments, just didn't like mixing work and home lives.
See, for me, I was never 'terrified' of the 'flavor of the week' virus, just flat out took care of myself and didn't give a rip. That's why I had no problem attending social events and going to restaurants.
and guess what, after 2 1/2 years of this nonsense, realized there was no reason to go to the office to 'collaborate'. Since I was the only one on my team in this state, it seemed silly to go in to the office to get on a teams call. Certainly not worth the gas I would have to use.
And since I always bring my lunch, it's not like I was contributing to propping up the local eateries around the office.
and, from what I am hearing, the coffee service is not as good as it was, and the cafeteria has jacked prices and reduced options, so I really do not see any lift.
Oh, wait a minute, I forgot. This is an attrition exercise.
The days I RTO are the least productive. Arrive, set up workstation- some days have issues with monitor, move to another cubicle. Get on call. Look for bathroom- oops it being cleaned, go to another floor. Come back, get on call. Hmm, grab a coffee or lunch- that means down the stairs, in my car, drive to find a place, come back. Eat at desk, get on call. Worry about traffic and getting to school pick up on time. Or, WFH: log on an hour earlier because no commute, same workstation every day with my stuff in easy reach, grab a coffee or lunch= 2 minutes in my kitchen, no one accidentally takes my snack, no commute back home. I’m probably 80% more efficient at home. And the big joke is how we’re supposed to be chatting to colleagues at the water coolers but if we do Teams goes on yellow and our “productivity score “ goes down.
Meetings or deliverables missed = 0
On the other side… kids games, school events, wasted time in car also equals… you guessed it 0… that is “what in the he-l is wrong”…. This has moved the playing field to more even (not completely we have a way to go)… crazy to have reviews based on performance and not how well people do in selective invite meetings in the office
I agree with all of this, but the cloud hanging around is location strategy. It can serve two purposes. One, to decrease headcount and two, bring teams back into the same office.
Things have been pretty quiet on the location strategy front.
Trollololol and you all fall for it every time.
This is really getting tiring, but sure, why not…
I was full time WFH for 14 years. I received multiple gold coins and Top Performer awards during those years. My performance was always 5 or consistent exceeds. This is not to brag, but to demonstrate that I was performing at a high level while remote.
I have absolutely nothing left to prove as an employee, and my team was among the highest performing in our org. Yet we are being told to come into an office where none of our colleagues are, and still sit on the same video calls and teams meetings every day. It’s a waste of time, money, gas and personal life, and ultimately I get less done than before due to lost time traveling.
This is not a difficult concept, @OP. Not sure why you and others are not getting the consternation. If you need to go into the office to be effective, that’s your call. But don’t put your hang ups on other people.
Charlie didn't start any of the businesses he's "worked for". Next easily dismissable talking point?
When you start your own company you can decide your fate. Until then, you follow policy and direction you're given by management.
Simple, Charlie couldn't be bothered to move to headquarters despite being the chief executive, yet we're all expected to suck it up and go to an office? That's garbage. If he can't be bothered to change for WF, neither can I.
Lead by example.