So what do we all think? It’s going to be a rough few years around here.
27 replies (most recent on top)
With the siloes and bureaucracy here, it’s a miracle anything gets done at all. When it does get done, forget being able to measure it, because the data is in another silo you can’t access!! Great idea to add RTO into this inefficient dinosaur. It’s just going to create even greater inefficiency for most employees. As if it wasn’t hard enough to get anything done around here without losing your wits. Do just enough to get your paycheck around here. Nothing more.
People posting about quitting working hard because the RTO and being disappointed. Welcome to corporate America you are paid decently but are just a number and replaceable anytime. It’s not just US Bank it’s all corporations. Some hide it better than others. So go to work put an effort in but would never give it everything you have
I am currently in the process of liquidating everything at US BANK b/c of RTO. I already sold my stock. Now I have to wait for my CD's to mature and I am gone. Will be doing my business elsewhere, if they don't care about me, I don't care about them.
What a fool I have been, thinking all of my immense hard work and my tremendous leadership made a difference. Thinking that leaders cared about doing what made sense vs. chasing a vision that return to office will somehow raise a slinking ship.
What a fool I have been to drink the “cool aid” and put faith in pep talks, and slide decks for years that talked about; invest in automation, outsource, work smarter not harder, streamline. None of which made a difference.
I am not a fool any longer, gone is my commitment, extra efforts, long days and weekend work that do not mater when it comes to compensation.
I am not a fool any longer.
You should never keep your account with the bank. They monitor your transactions. I took out $2k for a vacation trip and received a call questioning all my transactions.
Never opened an account of any type at the bank. No bank charge card. Doesn't seem like a smart move to keep your money with your employer.
And ditch the stock as much as possible. It’s a vote of no confidence in leadership, who seems to be content doing business in the way things were done 20+ years ago. Not forward thinking at all.
"All forced RTO employees should hit back by closing their checking/saving accounts right away, redirect your direct payments to a your new bank"
What makes you think most employees even have their bank accounts at USB? I have never had my personal accounts with my employer. Things should be segregated.
I think there is going to be a move to hire more Indians and move more I.T. systems to the cloud. I get the impression that the bank thinks that Indians are equal to native-born Americans. Many of those foreigners have bad English skills and Indians are known for lying on their resumes.
Let the company hire the foreigners. Native-born people shouldn't work especially hard to deal with the foreigners or fix their mistakes.
Why is the bank posting new jobs as of 3/1/24 for full RTO jobs right in cities with hubs?
What’s really going on at the bank? I think they want to make current emps miserable and end up quitting.
All forced RTO employees should hit back by closing their checking/saving accounts right away, redirect your direct payments to a your new bank. We all know how Andy brags on numbers, If enough of do that will cause a very noticeable dent to the bottom line. Single they don’t care about us, let’s not care about the company outcome.
Don’t stop there, stop using your personal cell phone for being on call, require them to reimburse us or get you a new business cell phone,
@1xot+1rkPOjAF -- I'm one of the people that's been pretty vocal on this forum in opposition to RTO, but I'm not the kind of person you're describing. I'm a non-exempt production employee, and am working exactly the same schedule as I was when I was in the office 5 days a week pre-COVID. I admit that I may throw in a couple loads of laundry, or haul out the vacuum cleaner to do a quick swipe over the carpet, but I definitely don't take 3 hour breaks to go run errands. And I still manage to get my work done within the same schedule as I always have, no need for me to work nights or weekends to do it. And my productivity has stayed the same or slightly increased.
@1xot+1rkPOjAF What you are forgetting about is that people still pretend to work at work. The problem would be even worse so for people who literally don't work with anyone in their hub, except now the person is even less motivated to do sh-t. Office space said it best "Well Bob, that will get someone to work just enough to not get fired". I used to be excited about the work I do, no longer. This was firmly shown me that the company doesn't give a sh-t about people, so why should I give a sh-t about doing more than the literal bare minimum?
I enjoy the flexibility of remote work as much as the next person but can we stop pushing this narrative of these incredibly long hours people are regularly putting in because of it?
You're not fooling anyone... You're either lying (because you come from that same old mentality of if I stay past 5:00 p.m i'llimpress management) or just doing it on occasion to make up for the breaks you took to have an easier week at home. Honestly, the latter is me, I have no problem admitting that of sometimes taken a few hours off to run errands on a slow weekday only to realize at the end of the week that maybe I shouldn't have done that.
But let's just stop with all this hyperbole. The loudest complainers are busting themselves out about losing the cushiest work they've ever had in their life.
Because I didn’t have to waste 3 hours commuting, I had energy to work 10 to 11 hours a day remote.
Now I am just going to put in my eight hours and shut down, whether I am remote for 2 days or in office for 3 days.
They don’t care, I don’t care
So many valid and sound comments here. As a long term employee I have been through all the ups and downs over many years. What stands out to me is how senior management thinks they have figured it out and know what’s best. Yet with this action demonstrate how little they know about how the true engine of the bank works.
The ecosystem of remote staffing has been fine tuned over many years and is remarkably efficient. The reasons for returning demonstrate they just don’t get it. There are staff that have been remote for 10+ years and they must return, so silly. Great thought went into understanding who was hybrid and not. Yet it’s all thrown out the window. Why not focus on hybrid?
Recall all the comments in the past.. “with this diverse staffing model we will attract top talent”.
The current comments about our peers are doing it, and we must we follow their lead is nonsense. How about an original approach vs. us just following. What about all the other companies that have shown it works…. Like us.
The bank works their staff very hard. They got that hard work as there was one perk that made it work, the ability to work remote.
Let’s be real they are doing this to reduce head count. When a CEO comes up the ranks from the finance side (like Andy) he has cost cutting mentality. Grown the top line!! Sell, not just cut.
Why I am most saddened is that this is not the bank I loved, a bank I cared immensely for and gave my soul to with hard work. A company that used to care and listen and showed a genuine interest in their employees. That is what hurts most, the lack of trust I now have in all sr leaders to manage and run this bank.
I've been in the office 3 days a week for about 6 months now. It's totally useless. I sit at my desk with my headphones on most of the day and do my work. Don't "collaborate" with anyone unless it's about the weather or what we're doing after work. My team is spread out among different locations, so all our meetings are still via Teams. I'm also in a location that has shared desks, people don't have assigned desks unless they're in office 5 days a week or are in certain positions. They don't have enough desks for the people assigned to our office now, but there's not been too many problems with people not getting a desk. I can't imagine what it will be like when all the people now classified as remote have to come back into the office.
$7 millions worth of USB stock Andy has sold in past 14 months. Now he’s telling us to go to the office with the lame reason. First, he told us data was not secure if we work from home. Then after people to.d him so the data is safe the other 2 days we work from home? What about all the remote workers handling data in foreign countries? So he changed it to say it’s USBank culture. Okaaaaaay. Sounds like someone selling everything and ready to move on while we’re left to deal with his unwise decisions.
2024-02-15 93,366 $3,861,000.00 Sale at $41.35 per share.
USB 2024-02-15 93,366 $3,765,000.00 Conversion of Exercise of derivative security at $40.32 per share.
USB 2023-03-02 90,693 N/A Stock Award(Grant) at $0.00 per share.
USB 2023-02-09 112,473 N/A Stock Award(Grant) at $0.00 per share.
USB 2022-12-12 84,948 $2,887,000.00 Conversion of Exercise of derivative security at $33.99 per share.
USB 2022-12-12 84,948 $3,696,000.00 Sale at $43.51 per share.
That email wreaks of grade A, organic, free-range, grass-fed, BS. They are simply doing this to reduce headcount full stop. It's so poorly veiled with vagaries about collaboration and team spirit, only a child would believe it. How excited are you to embark on your next career from the comfort of your shared stall?
Remote collaboration has been the mainstay of almost every team in every company regardless of wether it happens in the office or home. For years, everyone has looked for and hired around the country regardless of where managers and teams sit, the requirement for in-office presence had been the inabilities to access company intranet securely. This problem has been solved for many years and it works. Everyone has been able to keep things moving along without a single person in the office.
Also, notice that the vagaries in the email all had one thing in common, the absence of any research/data to back it up. Andy clearly had a fever dream and decided to do this, and nobody raised their hand to say "Hey we should do this in phases or test some of these things out". So instead they are doing a live experiment to see where this all sticks. I mean the guy is certifiable, his thought of veiling the lay off was to nudge anyone within 29 miles from one of our dirty buildings to quit. And to those without 30 miles, to look for another job because there is no future for you here long term.
They should also test out eliminating computers and bring back the typewriters while they are at it. The ASMR of that click-it-clack sounds will wring the nostalgia of yestercentury and give you a desire to pull up your sleeves and get to work!
The hubris is also hilarious in light years of phony emails from Andy talking about how much he cares about the people and etc.
Gaining or losing high performers doesn't really matter to this company, this is not a high performing/innovating company, and that's why they are willing to do the sorta thing that upsets everyone equally. So the end result is disgruntled, low morale, quite quitters and actual quitters.
The snitching and mistrust will be amplified now. You won’t be able to trust any new people you might meet in the office. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder wondering if your job is safe.
Complain all you want, you’re going to have to go in.
Job reports still come in hot so it's not that bad. Also your upset about complaining on a site that is made to complain about companies? Is this Andy pulling a Kevin Durant?
I think the general attitude is that a multitude of people are upset by the return office. And those people with time on hands will sit in this forum and complain about it. I think if you value your job, even if you’re looking for something else, you’ll do what’s being asked. Good luck to those that are looking for employment elsewhere, it’s a tough market out there right now.
I have a goal in workday now for RTO. So thrilled! Gotta love having a goal that doesn't state how to quantify/measure it. So what is being used? Badge swipe reports? What if I'm on vacation during a given week? I highly doubt that they will cross-reference my timesheets against that report. Email yesterday also mentioned that managers will have an RTO goal. How will that be measured? Roll-up of badge reports for all their directs?
And to top it off, Lumberg is asking me to come in on Saturday!
What if you’re 25 miles away from hub today and decide to move to a new place 31 miles away, do you get to be remote again instead of wasting 2 hours a day commuting both way?
I just checked google map, can I show them I am 31 miles away since I don’t drive freeway? If I take freeway, it’s 25 miles, if I take street, it’s 31 miles, therefore I can be remote?
I think we should just continue working remotely. If enough people do that, they are going to have to make some hard decisions. I know that everyone can't or won't do it because the risk of job loss, but I am. I don't care. My productivity would decrease due to commute time to an office building in which none of my team members work.
Trying to be perfectly objective here... I do understand the value of in person work. I've done 40 hours in office, hybrid, and full remote. So this isn't reactionary. My basic reaction to the announcement is along two lines of thought:
- Substantive changes. Almost anytime we implement a one-size fits all solution for every team, person, situation in the bank, we're probably not optimizing effectively. The fact that Andy has decided that this is the path forward, removing remote roles that have successfully worked long before COVID was even a thing, speaks poorly to his leadership. Not every situation is the same and should be treated the same. A hub market where a team can meet and collaborate is not the same as some poor remote employee getting stuck in a corner somewhere because he happened to live 29 miles away from a pin on a map.
And even if the whole point of this is to frustrate enough people into leaving to avoid layoffs and actually has nothing to do with improving performance, why not just layoff lower performers? Doing it this way virtually guarantees that we'll be self-selecting some of our highest performers to leave, since they'll have the easiest time finding alternative employment.
- Trust and Communication. Trust is hard to build and easy to lose. The bank being quite frankly dishonest about their intentions and manipulative in their communications throughout this process has destroyed a lot of very hard to build trust among the employees. Trust is an asset like anything else, and lack of trust is an institutional risk, and we're going to be in short supply of it for many years to come.
It’s insane. Do we all get assigned space or randomly sit anywhere we want? What if someone take my space when I am at lunch? This actually happened before remote when someone thought I was out that day and decided to make himself at home in my assigned cube.