#flexibility

If 2024 and 2025 proved anything, it’s that forcing people into offices five days a week didn’t fix culture, didn’t improve performance, and didn’t magically make the stock take off. What it did do was burn people out, drain morale, and push good talent out the door.

As we head into the new year, leadership has a choice. Keep doubling down on a policy everyone knows isn’t working, or finally admit that flexibility, trust, and results matter more than badge swipes and presence reports.

People want to do good work. They want balance. They want to feel respected. That’s not radical, that’s the modern workforce. Companies that get this are winning. Companies that don’t are watching their best people leave.

If 2026 is just another year of pretending RTO equals culture, nothing will change. If leadership actually listens and resets to a realistic hybrid model, there’s still a chance to rebuild trust.

New year. New opportunity. Same question.

Are we going to keep repeating the mistake, or finally learn from it?

Everyone, I’m joining citi in Canada. The main office is in Mississauga, located in west end of the city. They do have an office in a relatively well connected Downtown Area. Will they let people work from the DT office? Can people in Canada chime in? Thank you!!

Any word if flexible schedules will be eliminated 2026? It’s one of the biggest incentives the company currently offers.

Ah yes, the latest RTO decree—marketed as “structure,” experienced as punishment with better lighting. It’s the corporate equivalent of saying “We care deeply about your well-being” while handing you a cage and a feathered costume.

Associates now shuffle back like coal-mine canaries, expected to chirp cheerfully while inhaling the fumes of hollow empathy. Leadership insists this is about “connection” and “culture,” but the only culture anyone feels is the petri dish of distrust spreading across every floor.

The irony? The very employees they’re chasing—the masters of remote camouflage—will simply relocate their hiding skills to cubicles. Instead of dodging Teams calls, they’ll dodge eye contact in open-plan seating. Mission accomplished, Executive Committee.

Meanwhile, the rest of us lose the flexibility that actually fueled productivity. Remember that quaint concept? It thrived when associates weren’t commuting two hours to sit in meetings that could have been emails. But optics matter more than outcomes. Nothing screams “strategic leadership” like forcing everyone to show up for the illusion of collaboration while trust remains missing in action—buried alongside the latest batch of layoff casualties.

And empathy? It rings so hollow it could double as an empty Christmas stocking. Every memo drips with “we understand” and “we value your contributions,” yet translates to “we don’t trust you unless we can watch you suffer in person.” Associates have cracked the code: empathy here is garnish, sprinkled on punishment to make it LinkedIn-ready.
BNY Mellon has perfected optics-as-strategy. The Executive Committee beams about “rebuilding culture,” while associates quietly wonder if culture is just another word for surveillance—or HR justification for not paying severance. HR and PR polish the fantasy, posting glossy updates about “thriving together,” while employees mutter, “thriving where, exactly?”

So yes, structure without trust is punishment. Punishment dressed up as empathy is satire. The Executive Committee may think they’re leading a renaissance, but associates know the truth: they’re just the canaries, feathers ruffled, waiting for the next puff of corporate smoke.

And now, the holiday “grace period.” The EC retreats to lavish resorts and second homes while commoners aka associates are told to recharge, believe the theater, and stop chirping about RTO.

Spoiler alert: the canaries aren’t fooled.

Given the extremely low temperatures outside, we are aware that the Store Support Center is cooler than normal, and temperatures are fluctuating across the building.

As you know, we have been working with NSG and Corporate Real Estate to update and improve our building's heating and cooling systems; however, these repairs are still underway and will take time to complete.

As you prepare for today, we recommend the following to help maintain your personal comfort:

Dress in layers to adapt to fluctuating temperatures.

If your workspace is located on the south side of the building, keeping window blinds closed can greatly assist in temperature control.

Cover vents along the windows.

Leverage Archibus to reserve workspace on the 13th floor, if needed.

Avoid using space heaters as this can lead to tripped breakers and power outages.

We are aware that the impact is being felt more significantly on some floors. Talk to your leader about exercising flexibility, if needed, based on your floor's conditions.

Thank vou for vour understanding and cooperation

I’m seeing a lot of anti-HBA sentiment on this board. As a leader who has both St Louis and HBA folks on my team, I thought I’d share some insight.

It’s not that great being an HBA. Though there is flexibility, they take a hit on compensation. The merit increases are based on St Louis cost of living. St. Louis is much more affordable than most other metros. So, what that means is HBAs have not seen any real salary increase. Every year, they fall further behind due to their local cost of living.

My manager came up to me yesterday and said, “I’ve noticed you haven’t been here for the full eight hours. People are talking. Leadership’s watching badge logs. I can’t have you leaving at 2 or 3.”

They’re building a list of everyone not clocking the full eight hours. Anyone on that list moves straight to the front of the line. Three warnings, she said, and you’re out.

I have to pick up my kids and they are not even being flexible for families. What the heck is going on? My husband wants me to find another job.

Google “Chevron Benefits” and navigate to the India section. You’ll see that employees there are offered the option to work from home on Mondays.

When you compare this to the far more limited flexibility given to U.S. Payroll employees, it paints a clear picture: Chevron is providing its offshore teams with more favorable working arrangements than its U.S. workforce.

Clearly a plan to force US Payroll employees to resign without severance.

Just saw Truist is calling back all employees to 5 days a week. It’s getting harder and harder to find flexible work options https://www.bankingdive.com/news/truist-rto-employees-in-office-5-days-banking/805291/

Has anyone gotten in trouble for using too much in office exemption time - Whether that is weather related, or for the adhoc flexibility option.

Specifically referring to upper management less direct management.

When the only thing that “matters” is quarterly performance, leadership starts trimming everything that isn’t a number that moves the stock. Pay. Comfort. Flexibility. Those are the first to go.

Directors and VPs play it safe. They tighten rules not because they believe in them, but because they’re scared to stick their neck out. Fear trickles down faster than trust ever does.

Associates being able to collaborate across time zones and optimize their productivity with flexible hours is especially relevant for global organizations.

Work-from-home can indeed reduce commute time, improve work-life balance, and potentially increase efficiency—provided the right communication and collaboration tools are in place.

Most of my connect weeks, I rarely stay the whole day... I usually do half days and then leave when the office clears out. I work 12pm-11pm est and think it's ludicrous to be sitting on a floor with one other guy at 9pm lol.

I was just told by a friend at my office that his manager told his team you're not required to be in office if you work this shift, because half of the shift is when the office is technically closed. He said it's an actual policy but it's hush hush. Has anyone heard of anything like this? He has rarely gone into the office and has never heard anything of it. I have also never heard anything for usually leaving around 6-7pm est... knock on wood.

My manager is also very lax about the office requirement and just says to do what you can lol.

Since I know Fiserv leadership has watchers on this board...let's make this an option next year. Just finished reading an article that researchers found employees would accept a lower wage in exchange for remote work. Fiserv could save some coin on merit increases if they allowed employees to exchange some % for remote work flexibility. What would you exchange for more remote work?