#returntooffice

https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-skydance-leaked-memo-rto-logistics-5-days-david-ellison-2025-11

OK, let's vent here.

Is this for CR only ?

I know they said it would be rare to have it approved, but curious if anyone gave it shot and what the outcome was?

No official communication or org announcement sent out about RTO. This policy needs to be explicitly stated. Managers relaying it down the line by word of mouth is toxic. List the policy out in an official notice to not leave your employees anxious and uncertain, shame on leadership once again.

Does anyone know how they would check if you are in office? Can I just swipe my badge and leave?

Happening Wednesday. Su-ks for sure.

It’s pretty stupid that after knocking out my work, day after day I have to sit in my chair and wait to get my “8 Hours in”. Is 7-7.5 hours going to be enough to stay off the list? Or, are they really going after people who have 7.5 hours in office? I’m already incredibly annoyed by this d-mb rule and I can’t believe we’re being treated like teenagers! Hopefully this nonsense ends soon

This is probably the only channel I can say this on. But by God, people. Please get in line with the in-office requirements. 3 days and 8 hours is not that big of a deal. And if some of you lazy people keep looking for loopholes and abusing the system, they’ll come down harder. It’ll be 4 days, then 5. And we shouldn’t blame management. We should blame you.

The usual old folks in higher up positions, that make all the money at Zebra, said how important it is to work from the office by wanting you to come into the office 3 days a week. As usual, companies like this pull this stuff to force you to quit as their new form of layoffs. While they say that they are profiting and growing, we get no significant raises. In fact, raises at Zebra are MUCH LOWER, than other companies. The higher up postions line their pockets, us regular folk barely get any scraps or a good wage to fight this inflation. They also love outsourcing people at Zebra instead of focusing on Americans. American company that doesn't care about Americans. Sub-par benefits, sub-par bonuses, sub-par raises. They try to convice you to only rely on Google Gemini AI summeries as they are heavly shoveling AI down your throat so you don't think for yourself. AI is just a tool that's not even 100% correct... As usual, consume their propagana that, how those higher ups love to think here. Examples of their mindset below:

• Corporate BS = good
  come in to the office or else = good
• Remote work = bad
• Hire a bunch of overseas people to pay them cheaply and give those people remote work = good
• Give the worst raises and bonuses = good
• Hire postions that track every bit of your time AND don't understand your job so they can try fire you = good

How can these higher ups say they care for their employees when they think like this?

Optum wants so desperately to be a leader in consumer health, but is COMPLETELY out of touch with consumers. The consumer executives: Rita Kahn, Katie Schumacher, Robbi (ROBERTA) Thatcher have NO idea how to run a best-in-class product org. From process, to roles, to strategy, to roadmaps, etc. It’s a performative executive DEI club. Also recently added: Benson Chan, a waxy-looking self-indulgent Canadian who is a a big phoney and previously fired from Amazon Alexa. These people don’t lead, are not motivating and aren’t close to the work at all. They just repeat the same talking points at town halls. In 2026 they are injecting $55M of new capital into…. wait for it.., a chatbot called “Optum Companion” that doesn’t actually do anything better than before. Do consumers want this? No! But they will stick it everywhere. It’s more tech determinism cr-p being shoveled at consumers, also led by other executive a--hats like Sandeep Dadlani and Julie Durham who are constantly cheerleading on LinkedIn about AI and “100x” to boost their own personal brands/egos. As for the employee experience and culture, it has become a toxic culture of fear and loathing. Constant rounds of layoffs, and ever increasing return-to-office mandates that can be expected to continue until everyone works in MN or India. The market also agrees, and the stock price has lost practically all gains over the last 5 years. “Healthy Optum-ism” is a hilarious new attempt to revive a failing brand, but is so cringe, it’s unbearable. If you survived this latest round of layoffs (read: firing squad), then I wish you luck, but honestly, do you want to work at a soul-su-king place where you’re always looking over your shoulder wondering if your number will be called next. F this place. Let it burn to the ground.

You feel it, we all feel it. It doesn’t read like leadership trying to build culture.
It reads like control masquerading as culture. When a company actually wants people together for collaboration, the tone is invitation. When it’s about covering themselves or flexing power, the tone is exactly what you would expect from Dell. Cold, absolute, and written as if you’re a dog in a cage.

From Jan 3 days in the office will be put in place. BUT also hearing some changes coming w/c 8th Dec not sure what changes but rumours are consultation for Europe team members who will be impacted.

Is 6 hours in the office still relevant?

Does it show that you’re not at assigned location if you take a meeting from another building but you’re at your assigned building for most of the day? Im in Minneapolis towers and sometimes asked to attend meetings from the other building downtown.

Has anyone heard what’s changing next year about whether we’re going to be able to continue working from home? I recall reading or hearing that announcements will be made at the beginning of 2026.

since he thinks co-location with the supervisor is so important.

Hearing some sub-orgs in S&T (specifically Dave’s org) are now requiring their teams to be in 3-4x a week. Can anyone confirm?

Corporate employees will there be a restructure happening? And any updates on mandating in office days?

Post here for tips and recommendations to those venturing into the office. It’s a bit of a free for all in my opinion, not like going into the office pre covid!

Or is it just the worker bees? Who is monitoring management?

After that disastrous, blunt, outlook-vision, do we need to bother going in ? Why bother? Who cares about RTO

Curious what people’s opinions are with the new 4 day mandatory in office policy update. I get that it makes sense since it’s an office supplies company but there are plenty of teams that don’t even do 3 days now. Is this a ploy to avoid layoffs in hopes that enough employees quit to make up the deficit?

Yesterday was the CRG Governance & Supervision town hall. The future of the St louis location was discussed. For once a Sr leader was honest with the submitted questions:
1- Was asked if WFA is going to stay in STL. Leader paused & answered the questions very carefully. "STL is no longer a growth area". Said flat out they expect the firm to reduce to 1 building (and obvious reduce headcount). Said "that's been the plan all along since AG Edwards". He doesn't expect the St louis campus to close any time soon but it will it's pretty clear STL is no longer a core focus for the firm and will be reducing its footprint.
2- 4 day in-office work week across the firm? Answered would not be shocked but was not his announcement to make. Would come from 1 level up. (ie: its happening but not disclosing when). Explained some groups are already 4 & 5 days in the office.
3- AI will not take your jobs but ironically started the town hall acknowledging there were significant layoffs the day (Tueday) before and some people listed on the handout were already terminated.
It was refreshing to hear a leader be honest even though it was not the most positive answers. It is very clear from the responses that St Louis is not a priority for WFA anymore. How long it will last is unknown. Needless to say the auditorium in STL had a lot of shocked faces but not unexpected.

Home office positions including technology. Hybrid associates especially. Full remote seems safe for now. This smells of a soft layoff, where they do not have to pay severance.

The combination of strict 4+ Day return to office AND hotel desking is the double whammy of bad news. Think one or both could die off down the road? A lot of companies are doing 3 days with assigned desks, which I feel is far more reasonable. Hate to think this is the new normal indefinitely…

CBS did incur layoffs very few in sports many in news and some in CBS E even union jobs
for what's it's worth - and HR here can absolutely correct - management could be gaslighting us to calm down

were told no more planned layoffs this year no round two planned RTO will take effect for both phases Remote only jobs will end
that early 2026 is streaming related

and that yes news is a wild card with new sheriff - i'm not in news
--just conveying what was told me

Heard a rumor of 3 days/week and possibly 5 days/week starting Jan 1. Haven’t seen anything from corporate. Everything has been heresy. Teams are gonna fold. WFH works. We’ve been able to release the new online banking to 11 million customers while mostly WFH and during a pandemic. Tech buildings are chaotic with numerous distractions. We’ve said it many times, open floor concept does not increase productivity. It does the opposite. PUSHBACK PUSHBACK PUSHBACK!!!

Well said, @67a+1k4tc23cn.

Thoughts?

When they asked remote employees to move back were you offered moving assistance and what did that look like? Survived yesterday but still anxious about a RTO mandate

Anyone know how long the lease is on the NYC campus? Just wondering how long the talent out there needs to keep commuting in, so many have expressed displeasure regarding the onsite requirements.

Yesterday I got called out for not working long enough at my assigned location by someone else who works there. They emailed my boss and told her that I am not respecting the "full intent" of the "How We Work" policy. Apparently I leave too soon after I arrive. WTF? Now we have the internal police force looking over our shoulders and counting the minutes we are warming a chair?

So I received an email that we are being sent employee badges soon. I have been work from home since Covid and haven't had an employee badge or reason to use one since then. No announcements about RTO either.

In Penny's Page for October 27, 2025 Penny says great teams don't just work side by side, but they grow together so they can build something lasting. Is she serious? Does she think anyone is buying her BS anymore? This is something our first five managing partners could have said and it would be believable because those leaders lived those words. Unfortunately, our sixth managing partner does not live these words. She spouts these words out haphazardly and then lives a different life. How does our Edward Jones teams grow together and build something lasting by eliminating American jobs and sending them to India? How do you bring people out of COVID and back into the office because we need to do business face to face and at the same time send American jobs to a third world country on the other side of the world? Is Penny serious when she says these things? During the sixth managing partner search the candidates underwent psychological testing. If Penny is serious when she spouts out this garbage then she probably needs a more current psychological testing. She is losing it and she is losing it quickly. Penny, come to your senses and just step down. You have done enough damage already. I do not know if this company is salvageable or not. If it is, the next managing partner is going to have their work cut out for them. God save our firm.

Anyone have any information if TR is going to start requiring a certain number of hours in the office for the required 3 TRO days next year?

Also, where is MAV? Haven't heard anything from her in a long time. All her implemented flexibility is being reversed now.

the discussion has really ramped up… Iowa managers reporting they now see who isn’t in office 8 hours. SDI San Fran based employees saying there’s an 8 hour in office mandate… but my line of business has just heard its managers digression. Can any managers weigh in?

If you are working 7 days a week, your RTO will be 7. It's a simple formula, 6 days in office for everyone exept for the folks who work all 7 days, they will be coming in 7 days, we'll call that Full-RTO.

heads up - if you are swiping in at an office that does not match your formal office location, they are definitely looking at you. Ask your manager to change your location (if possible) or start coming in to the correct location otherwise this is the excuse they’re looking for…

Curious. Is there a time limit trip wire when you badge out to leave that is on a report. Say I badge in then leave 3-4 hours later. Do I come up in a report because I didn’t stay all work day?