#officeculture

Is this a ploy to encourage people to quit? Where are we supposed to sit when we badge in a building but not at our center of gravity?

Been a madhouse in the building I'm in since yesterday with these cube claims.

Am I imagining this? Has the cost of eating the cafe gone up dramatically over the last year or so? It seems like my same lunch used to cost around 650-750 is now 10.50. I think the firm used to subsidize the cafe to keep the cost down. Wondering if they took away the subsidy as part of the cost cutting or to pay for the overly lavish Trailblazer cafe.

I forgot my laptop at home and didn’t realize it until I got to the office. It’s kind of hilarious how there’s literally no work to do without it. No systems. No tools. Nothing.

Which exposes the flaw in the whole RTO and “collaboration” argument. If presence alone created value, being here would still matter without a laptop. But it doesn’t. All the actual work still happens digitally, exactly the same way it does at home.

If the office adds no functional capability beyond what a laptop provides, then forcing people to commute just to open the same apps on a different desk defeats the entire purpose.

Looking to apply for a few positions

Most of us are required to be in office at least 8 hours a day. How exactly is time in office tracked?

The writing is on the wall.
Assume a letter from Mary is imminent because these automakers always copy each other.
2026 was already trash. It's just going to amplify. 😭

Did anyone else notice this?

I don’t think Truist has enough office space to fit everyone. I traveled at a few of their office locations(ATL, CLT, Raleigh/Greensboro). It doesn’t look like there is enough room. Especially in the Charlotte office and the new Battery location.

Enjoy

Get ready for the RTO email and the chaos that will ensue

North America right away but it will be the same for rest of world shortly once the company has spoken to work councils

Get ready for 5 days of coughing / spluttering / loud noise / body odor / alcoholic breath and fun !

Are the gates at the FSC up or down today?

The Turtle Response
• A Harvard Business School study found that face-to-face interaction drops by 70% in open layouts.
• This is due to the Turtle Response: when exposed visually from all angles, the amygdala triggers a low-level threat state.
• People retreat into digital shells—headphones, screens—to protect cognitive resources.

Now we have LED lighting going in. It's way too bright. Bring a ball cap.

Since we need to have open no fixed space working spaces it is critical that we differentiate ourselves from other animals in the kingdom forced into harvesting pens. Let's ask our leaders for Chevron scented candles to at least remove the negative impacts of those that harvest in the common space.

I have always liked PNC and what it stood for. I just don’t understand what is going on. If this decision has anything to do with trying to bring business to downtown, unfortunately, it’s not going to work. There is not enough existing downtown. I’m referring to stores not restaurants. I remember the days of Kaufman’s, Hornes, Gimbles, Lazarus, Lord & Taylor and Saxs. In all of my years I never envisioned downtown Pittsburgh being in the condition that it currently is.

It is my belief that apartment living contributed largely to destroying downtown. It will never be the same. The deterioration of downtown Pittsburgh started way before Covid. Covid just made it worse. Once Kaufman is closed, that was it. I think we all need to face the fact that downtown is gone. Until city leaders realize they’re going in the wrong direction, as they continue to develop even more housing, downtown Pittsburgh will continue to decline. The only thing that will be left down there is the people who live there. It’s not a place where people want to come anymore. Sad days…

What are you doing today?

Is there no longer a dress code? Big fancy new building and all you see is people attire consisting of house shoes, active wear, T-shirts, and well sad to say either heading to club before or after shift. Just curios question. Debating on just showing up in PJ’s see what happens.

There it is folks.. May the 4th be with you!!

Yep. turn ur camera on Folks!!

Is Houston completely unassigned seating now in both towers? If so, brutal to absorb that and RTO 4 days all at once. How is it going for everyone? Strong reactions?

The only thing he should’ve been impressed with was the enormous number of calories I managed to consume worth of free food along with the excessively large amount of chips and cookies and candy and bagels and muffins that I managed to smuggle out out of the office in my backpack.

(and yes, for all the trolls who will inevitably jump in here… this means I am a slacker who has never had a “real” job and definitely not just a normal hard-working employee trying to maintain their sense of humor amidst an admittedly shi**y situation.)

Peace out and congratulations to everyone who survived their first week back with their sanity intact.

Any current employee's here? How's the new plan going? What's the climate like in the office? Things seem very quiet. I see a few recent comments in the September post and it doesn't seem good.

Dallas has Whitacre tower……. What will the new shrine to ourselves be named? I gotta know!!! 1st place gets their own desk for at least a week.

Another morale booster at Woodcreek :)

Hard to believe how much things have changed. What used to be a busy, collaborative place now feels like a complete ghost town. Empty floors, no energy, barely anyone around. It honestly feels like The Walking Dead, people just showing up, wandering around, and ki-ling time.

There’s not much actual work happening here anymore. Teams are gone or spread out, roles eliminated, and a lot of the real work seems to have moved elsewhere or just disappeared. So what exactly is the point of RTO when you come in and there’s nothing to do?

Curious if others are seeing the same thing. Is this just a slow fade until the site eventually shuts down?

I’m really struggling to adjust to the no assigned seating. It’s really awful and a big downgrade to my quality of work life.

This + 4 days in office has me seeking new jobs away from Chevron.

But I guess that’s what the wanted

Considering moving from Wells to BOFA. Is there any talk of going from 3 days in-office to 4 or 5? Or is there a required # of hours per day you need to be in office? What else should I know?

And I am already cringing about going in the office tomorrow. Such a depressing place to work..

It's important to make a good impression. Everyone will be there! Some of you will even be sharing the same desk and chair!

The hybrid model was amazing. Assigned or unassigned offices the hybrid was still better. There is no logical reason to go more days than 3 per week. I find the change to be very disappointing. My days at home were days to get things done and I didn’t dread getting up before 5 am to go into the office. I could get up at 7 and go right into the office. Back to the dread on Sundays again. Ugggh!

Anyone have a leader who requires cameras to be on in every meeting? How is this even enforceable?

My calendar’s full, my work isn’t getting done, and half these meetings could’ve been emails. Who’s benefiting from this system, because it certainly isn’t any of us who actually have things to do?

Remote employees were once again showered with lavish gifts and people in Milwaukee got nothing. The only give TG the Grinch gave local employees was the gift of paying for more gas to commute, paying more for parking, and extra time in the restroom if you manage to find something to eat at the cafeteria. Bah humbug

What time did your managers let you out today?

I keep seeing people say “we are returning to working in the office because that’s how it always was”

Quick question - who had issues finding assigned seating, food, and stocked bathrooms with good toilet paper before covid?

Answer - nobody. Because RTO is not a return to how it was. It is way greedier and designed to be humiliating on purpose. Quit licking boots and be honest.

Canon's declining market share and toxic corporate culture isn't just in the US. China is no different! The Zhuhai and Zhongshan factories have closed. Canon China sales company is laying off employees every year. the CEO and the Japanese managers are very much into the a-s-kissing culture. This This Retired managers continue to be promoted, middle level cadres are laid off as much as possible, and younger employees are bullied. This is the worst company I have ever seen.

There are rumors that something is changing in current work model. For example that work from office will be more strict - not like now where no one is checking this. Do you have any other insights?