There have already been studies conducted on RTO policies in other companies, and they all reach the same conclusion: RTO reduces productivity and morale, creates widespread frustration, and, most importantly, leads to the loss of talent. The most capable employees—those with options—are the first to leave. But in the end, none of that seems to matter, because the real goal appears to be making as many of us as possible quit on our own, without having to pay severance.
15 replies (most recent on top)
I personally need to be micromanaged or I would just sit there all day. It definitely helps me to be productive.
CIO did not deny all WFH.... thats a fact!
Its going to be trouble when they finally find the IT people not in HOU or SR with no badge swipes and are under IT's budget.....Compliance rates will go down further
It's more sinister than that. All these large investment firms still have large commercial real estate positions back from precovid when it was can't miss investment. They are in the ears of the all the CEOs and consultants promoting RTO so they can have a softer landing or at least a little more time to offload those losses.
The work conditions of no assigned seating and open good-luck-finding-your-own-space-concept movement in the offices should be very telling as well. Employers are basically saying they want you back in the office, sort of.. maybe.. not really.. let's all stay positive and.. flexible.
The comment, "Find someplace else to work where they don't care what you're doing or where you are while on the clock"... that's exactly what the good talent is doing. Not because they don't care or don't work effectively. They are just better at what they do enough to be effective from anywhere, and seek employers who value that over helicopter micromaanagement. Thus the move to remote and India are some of the best, highest paying jobs.
Will the CIO had to personally step in and deny all full time WFH requests, ignoring all policies, you knew it wasn’t about work or productivity. It’s about compensating for BRES’ poor real estate decisions. He-l, look at Bakersfield. Buy at $22 million and sell for $9.7 million? Id fire that whole team.
"Ding ding ding! It’s a demoralization exercise. They took away our assigned offices and then made us nomads on the floor. The entire point is to get people to quit."
How telling is it that they'd rather spend time enacting policies that chase people off instead of creating plans that add value?
Maybe those cherry-picked companies that they looked at specifically to support their narrative have actual responsible adults working there? I don't know. At most large companies Hybrid and WFH is basically a non-starter. Covid is over. Get over it.
Hybrid has been shown to be the sweet spot for productivity and workplace satisfaction. There is now data backing that up. Any of you old fogies or office gossips mad about any WFH need to put up your own data if you want to debate.
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2024/06/hybrid-work-is-a-win-win-win-for-companies-workers#:~:text=In%20the%20largest%20study%20yet,far%20less%20prone%20to%20quit.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2022/02/04/3-new-studies-end-debate-over-effectiveness-of-hybrid-and-remote-work/
Really hard to justify the better together line, while spreading offshoring support functions and engineering as fast as we can. Ever try to run down a procurement issue? Good effing luck
The concept that being able to work from home unsupervised, company-wide is now some sort of an established norm and so productive that it exceeds the efficiency of all other working conditions is completely foreign and bizarre as well as false. Please get a clue. Your whining and belly-aching is getting old. Find someplace else to work where they don't care what you're doing or where you are while on the clock, problem solved.
Yup its a way to demoralize and increase attrition. Thats why they started with high level PSGs.
The ultimate goal is to raise the stock price and they are convinced that outsourcing to India will make that happen. Like everything else, RTO is designed to make that outsourcing happen easier and quicker. When people quit because they don’t want to commute anymore, those jobs will go overseas. Talent has nothing to do with it…they are convinced the cost savings in India is more valuable than the experienced talent that will exit in the US.
Has anyone besides PSG level 26 and above actually gotten told to come back? I haven't gotten any communication whatsoever regarding RTO. And until I do, that's one aspect I'm going to choose not to worry about.
Ding ding ding! It’s a demoralization exercise. They took away our assigned offices and then made us nomads on the floor. The entire point is to get people to quit.