#returntooffice

Expect an email after Thanksgiving. Welcome to the new Verizon

Anyone see today’s nuke on The Post about RTO?

The guy just comes off like a j@ck @$$.

I am hearing of remote directors being told to begin reporting to hubs. I checked my own director in the directory and they are now reclassified as working out of a hub. Anyone else noticing a change in remote to hub status?

Perhaps this is old news, but heard for the first time today that even established telecommuters within 35 miles of an office are going to be required in office 5 days.

Wow. I heard they’re about to lay off another 2000 employees, most likely in order to make room for fully in person work next year

The employee-employer power balance has shifted firmly to the employer, according to Glassdoor’s 2026 Worklife Trends report — and it has prompted employees to reexamine their engagement in turn.

https://www.hrdive.com/news/forever-layoffs-and-rto-pressure-employers-hold-the-power-again/805673/

Currently working Hybrid and been told that Thursday is remote day while Tuesday and Wednesday are office days.

Def not a coincidence even if they want to frame it as early thanksgiving break.

Going back to the office 5 days a week starting on January 5th? No work life balance? It sounded like we can’t even work from home to take or kid to a doctors appointment?

Only 6 more weeks until 4x days WFO.
I can't wait for us all to get back to the office - we are better together.
This will make us beat Exxon for sure

The best people leave first. Not that Medtronic seems to care about keeping skilled and experienced employees.

With recent announcements stating jobs would only be open in the main hub locations, I bet layoffs for workers who don't live close to the a hub. More and more people are required to go into the office so it's only makes sense. Why get rid of 1 millionaire vp when you can get rid of 15,000 low level employees? If you want to stay with the company, they are still aggressively hiring in all other countries except the United States.

Didn’t last long with the “return to office.”

So, what actually happens if someone doesn’t stick to the 5-day RTO policy? Will managers just note it during performance reviews, meaning it could impact our bonuses or raises? Just wondering what steps Truist expects managers to take with team members who don’t follow the policy.

Pre covid office was 5 days, so I don’t think it’s new rule. As well it’s too hard to communicate with remote people, sometimes responses are super slow and confusing.

1. Collaboration: Being in the office can make face-to-face meetings and spontaneous brainstorming easier.
2. Culture building: Physical presence can help new hires integrate and reinforce company values.
3. Visibility: Managers can see work happening and provide real-time feedback.
4. Team cohesion: Shared space can strengthen relationships and alignment across teams.
5. Structured environment: For some roles, having a dedicated workspace helps employees stay focused and productive.

You see how these are all good things? Just RTO 5 days as you’re asked and we can turn this company around. Cmon guys. It might even be fun!

Well, I just got notice from my manager. I hate to break the news, but the 5 days RTO rumor is true. It’s not 3 days anymore it will now be 5. Seems they are planning to use RTO to reduce headcount without severance. Just fair warning to y’all. I am in shock.

Just calling it now — once AIP drops in March, Q1–Q2 2026 is going to be a bloodbath for Truist talent. Every high performer who still cares enough to tough it out right now is probably already polishing their résumé. Between the 5-day RTO nonsense, the constant cost-cutting “initiatives” that make zero sense, and leadership’s habit of treating teammates like disposable headcount, why would anyone with real market value stick around?

It’s honestly painful watching good people get run into the ground while execs talk about “purpose” and “care” in the same breath they use to justify another round of cuts or policy rollbacks. The writing’s on the wall — once the bonus hits, the exits will light up.

Truist keeps acting like folks don’t have options. Spoiler: they do. And the ones who’ve kept the lights on are about to prove it.

• Paramount told staff they must return to the office five days a week starting in January and offered a voluntary severance package to employees at vice president level and below who did not want to comply.
• Around 600 people, mainly in Los Angeles and New York, chose the payout instead of coming back full time. This comes on top of earlier layoffs and broader restructuring and cost cutting after the Skydance merger, including leadership changes at CBS News and canceling “The Late Show.”
• Critics say the new owner David Ellison is reshaping the company in ways that may also be politically aligned with President Trump, who recently settled a lawsuit with Paramount and has praised Ellison’s direction.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5600559-paramount-layoffs-office-return/

does anyone know if RTO hour are being tracked/days in office? Will it affect our bonus this year?

Anyone have clarity on what half day pto convert to in terms of hours? Its listed as in office day but does it count as full 8 hours worked?

Truist bank will require all employees to return to the office five days a week starting early next year, ending pandemic-era work-from-home policies. Hybrid work arrangements split between home and office will end starting Jan. 5, the Charlotte-based bank confirmed to The Charlotte Observer Wednesday. This shift from pandemic-era remote work policies is meant to boost in-person collaboration and reinforce corporate culture, Truist said.
Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article312885549.html#storylink=cpy

LE's son's acorn didn't fall far from the tree:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/600-paramount-skydance-employees-quit-instead-of-returning-to-the-office-and-it-cost-the-company-185-million-filings-show/ar-AA1QeuAq?uxmode=ruby&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=DCTS&cvid=691415c2ca144a0197f8d3c562227e9a&ei=9

I wonder if LE is more interested in this industry more than high-tech.
The circus continues.

heard rumors about more lay offs coming in December (including lower level) & a 5 day work week coming back. any confirmations?

My entire team lives in hub areas where the standard of living is very high. We are forced to come in 5x8 while enduring crazy traffic situations to and from work. Some of them were even asked to move to hub locations and subsequently fired.

My direct manager reports to some sort of ghetto CO where he’s surrounded by gamblers and prost---tion. He brags about paying “0” state tax. How is this fair?

Work as prescribed 9-5 M-F. Been done nearly a century. Prove they do not need to send your job overseas. RTO is for collaboration and winning. No whining.

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?