#returntooffice

Day 1 of 5 tomorrow. 8 hrs per day, 40 hrs per week. M-F. Don't FORGET ABOUT IT! See you in the office, slackers.

To whom it concerns.. You know who you are.

Please stop making this about remote work. It really makes me want to swear when I hear some little smug punk say "ten toes down" as if to imply that people who have concerns over the new RTO mandate are simply unmotivated or, dare I say, LAZY. It is such an insult to people who aren't career employees, who aren't interested in being in the club, or who aren't in our vendor's pockets.

Remember that famous, yet misquoted statement from Marie Antoinette? "Let them eat cake".. Now, she didn't actually say that but the spirit is there. If you don't have any water, stop complaining and just drink wine. If you want to work at AT&T, stop complaining and come into the office 5x9. So, some people complained about RTO. Instead of asking why, leadership has made resistance a terminatable offense. But, do you ask why we are resisting? While you sit on the executive floors, many have to fight for spaces. We have to fight for parking. We have to endure inane conversations, i mean 'collaboration' about how bad Dallas is playing or how terrible/great presence tracking and RTO are. What have you done to make RTO something we can get behind?

We are a company drowning in debt. We are in negative growth. Our employees hate the company. Our culture is dead, and, oh yeah, we have to come into an office in an environment where we are forced to fend for ourselves like a bunch of lemurs looking for a little patch of grass only so we can pop up our collective heads every time someone new enters the jungle. You call that progress and you label these jungles, "collaboration zones". They are not. You are the bosses living in the penthouse, completely blind to the struggles of the people in steerage. Did it ever occur to you that this is the part of RTO that makes us uneasy? Give me a cube with a docking station, a couple monitors, my own keyboard and mouse, a phone, maybe pictures of my family and some cute little desk tchotchkes that make me feel like I'm a person with freedom and the respect of my leaders instead of being in a prison cafeteria. You think you get it but you don't. I don't mind driving an hour to get to work but it would sure be nice to know that my company gave a darn about my experience once I get there.

If you're still reading, here's a thought. There's this huge building with AT&T plastered all over the place. Its got a ton of space that's mostly used on weekends so it probably sits empty m-f. I think there may be people who work their but I think its fairly well understood that they are pretty terrible at their jobs. Clearly RTO doesn't equate to job performance. Anyway, maybe y'all can think about selling that eyesore to someone else and maybe we can use that money to, oh, I don't know, improve the working conditions for your people who are actually trying to be successful?

Just something to think about..

I took a look at the layoff boards for other banks. They've been complaining about the same things we do about RTO. It's not just us.

If we all band together and collectively don’t follow the 8 hours in office, it’ll create so much extra work for mangers, hr, etc. The documented discussions, write ups, pips, involving HR.

They are already extremely tired of hearing and talking about RTO.

I’m not saying don’t go in at all or coffee badge. Get your 3/4 days in and stay 4-6 hours. But don’t do anymore. Show them that we are willing to go in and put our time in but not for 8 hours.

First.... employee RTO mandates looming at Big Green while outsourcing many positions to contact labor that won't be subjected to RTO like employees. 🤔🤷🏻‍♀️

Second....
https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/return-to-office-mandates-are-about-to-backfire/91244646

_

So the guidance is that you need to work a full 8 hours but should still feel free to pick up your kids or attend medical appointments etc? I literally asked what happens if it’s snowing and I need to leave a little early to pick my kid up before school closes or my kid is sick and I need to get them and the answers was find a way to be here 8 hours/ find another day to come 8 hours or you risk being ‘noncompliant’ which may impact your performance LOL so the real answer is that the RTO guide that was sent to managers is straight up BS and there is zero flexibility for unexpected events. Feeling so tired of this company which I’ve foolishly worked hard for all these years. We are truly unappreciated and disposable.

Has anyone ran into the issue of the rigid RTO and ADA accommodations for a condition where remote work is warranted?

When did it start? And how does the reporting actually look?

At the risk of sharing too much and outing myself, I feel like it’s important for employees to know that there have been internal discussions for several weeks about preparing for a full return-to-office (RTO) with a target date of 12/01.

This shift will not affect designated telecommuters. However, leadership is considering changes that could indirectly impact them, such as reducing merit increases by a percentage, withholding them entirely, or halving API targets for remote employees. These adjustments are being framed as a way to “counterbalance” the RTO mandate. Announcements are expected around the start of the new year, once PTO balances reset.

The intent behind these measures is to drive natural attrition among both remote and in-office staff, minimizing or eliminating the need for another large-scale reduction in force. Notice the timing right before the holidays.

At the same time, corporate leadership is optimistic that AI and automation can replace many roles vacated through attrition. The long-term plan includes maintaining the hiring freeze indefinitely; at a minimum, next year’s budget will not allow for backfilling positions unless they are deemed business critical.

I worry there is significant risk. From what I’ve seen, the company is years behind in AI adoption. Betting heavily on it now could backfire, potentially resulting in millions in fines and penalties by 2026–2027.

Like if I’m going to be out for two weeks do those extra days work for the week right before? How does it work for when it’s the end of the month? I don’t see this published anywhere

https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0923/1534732-return-to-the-office-mandates-emoployer-employee-control-power-productivity-innovation/

Narcissistic behavior? Surely not

So d-mb

Effective immediately? What a sh-t show.
Tracking our mouse movements or clicks.
I assume Q1 is the announcement of 4 days a week or back to 5.

I guess this is one way of saying, I’m only doing my 8 hours and shutting down.. see ya again at 7am.

anyone know what happens if you continue to not adhere to the 4 day mandate even after the final warning?

A lot of people it should theoretically apply to, including me, still haven’t. All it’s done so far is create a ton of confusion.

During a couple of these department specific office hours talks, apparently some of the department heads are pushing back a bit on the 5 day RTO (among other things).
Anyone think this is going to lead to anything?

Has anyone heard the rumblings that HCSC is considering upping their in-office requirement to 4 or 5 days a week? My boss eluded to it the other day and framed it as the company wanting us to either get onboard or get out.

I've been on a medical exemption for the last 4 months - a legit one - and the last 1x1 I had RTO was never even brought up. I was asked how I was doing but that was it. I report to a director so, a step up from a sr. manager and is one who would have more insight into all of that - I think anyways...

I'm almost wondering if this was a sneaky scare tactic Dell/JC made. Enforce a mandatory 5 days/week RTO that gets tracked and enforce it for a quarter; then back off and/or totally stop tracking/caring but don't tell anybody.

Think about it... If you/managers/directors don't know if they are still tracking it, people will continue to go in, right? The moment people find out that they AREN'T tracking it anymore... Nobody will go in.

I suppose the only test would be to NOT go in and see if your manager/director says anything about it... But I have a sneaky suspicioun that they aren't really tracking that anymore. If they are, it's likely just wanting a few days/week.

Any one else hearing about the office closures and consolidations outside of the west coast?

Is your location impacted or is it just limited to San Diego, San Francisco and Long Beach? Seems strange when we are trying to bring people back to the office to collaborate and share.

Has anyone gotten flagged before and how many days until they actually notice.

Got a message from my manager saying full office hours are expected if you are in office :(

I honestly don’t see myself ever going back to the office. What happens if I just dont show up—would they actually fire me? Do they even track badge swipes? Is HR planning to enforce this policy ?

So, either our leadership is in denial or they are completely inept.

I was told by one of the good managers (there are not many, so I am going to leave it there not to out them) that there are a ton of resignations and retirements because of the hard line return to office requirements.

Even people who meet the requirements for an exemption are not being granted.

I am so baffled as to how they didn't see this coming.

How?

They are pushing the date out hoping to convince those leaving to stay.

Spoiler alert, they won't stay

Boeing is doomed unless we can get people in leadership that actually understand human behavior vs understanding that they make the decisions.

Are they telling out of state workers that are not in michigan to either move to mi or to find other job/ Just heard that happened not sure if true

I never left the office. I don't have that luxury or privilege.

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/workplace/return-to-office-workers-fail-3d966807?mod=hp_lead_pos1

The Rush to Return to the Office Is Stalling

Microsoft, Paramount and other companies are stepping up calls to get back to the workplace. Many of their employees are still phoning it in.
Big companies from Microsoft to Paramount and NBCUniversal are ordering workers to show up to the office more often. If only their staffs would heed the call.

Even as corporate bosses cut back on remote work and ratchet up in-office mandates, average office attendance has barely budged across U.S. workplaces. Companies are struggling to enforce mandates, and many managers tasked with herding folks into the office would rather not be there either. Other executives have made their peace with hybrid work, especially amid cooling consumer confidence and an unpredictable trade war.
...

What are we doing about the Band 5s in non strategic sites? They’re cashing chex laughing at the rest of us go back to the office….

What a crock that us staff must adjust to RTO but they still work from home and don’t come in the office. We all see it….

Examples - Alpharetta GA, Annapolis Junction MD, Tampa FL

I thought they were tracking office attendance. Why are some people exempt (I'm not talking about folks who were remote before the pandemic)? Do their managers go to bat for them? What else could be the reason?

Have the rules relaxed or it is still 5 days RTO?

Anything?

The only thing I can think of is that now I'm fully ignoring anything work related after business hours, and I used to be available at all hours while WFH. But that certainly can't be considered an improvement for the company. Is there anything you can think of?

Considering WFH is more productive , attracts better talent, retains the last vestiges of existing talent, and considering commercial building costs makes RTO un-competitive .... does any of this make sense?

What happened to that RTO post from this morning? I was coming back to check in on the thieves crying and "poof" it's gone. There didn't seem to be anything blatantly wrong with it.

Been going around that she is very upset that her saying that we should ignore the presence reports got out on the interwebs. I guess her freeeloader remark didn’t land well.

Funny, none of these people were all that upset when the company scr_wed with the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people with the RTO layoffs and relocations. Just business. Now they’re aghast when dirty laundry is aired in public.

If you don’t want leaks just treat people with decency and respect. It’s not all that hard

Got the word. Our group in Michigan is moving back to 5 days in office. Thought we were going to be good at 3 days. Was nice while it lasted.

I have heard rumors of an MD meeting that took place recently, need to be in the office minimum 7 hours. Abusing thing will lead to being on the naughty list.

Anyone else have issues with their pets seeming depressed? Not only is my spouse upset that I'm never home and misses our lunchtime walks and heathy food prepared together, but my cat has acted strange ever since I stopped returning home until the evening. Last year, it was only 3 days in the office and I was typically home in the early afternoon. Now, with full time RTO, he stays in the garage all day, according to my spouse. He always runs to the door when I get home, but then disses me again and goes back to the garage. He used to always hang out in the house with us before this year. It b-ms me out that this has affected him as well.

I am based in Houston and my entire team has been replaced with employees in Buenos Aires and Manila. Does anyone have advice or strategies on maximizing the benefits of in-person collaboration the upcoming RTO changes will offer?

/s

The stricter RTO is just part of it. Eternal reorganization, months of uncertainty about what’s coming for each of us - that’s another layer. Teams are in chaos, handling workloads meant for far more people. Managers seem completely oblivious to anxious, restless, overworked, burnt-out employees. It’s all either by design or sheer disregard for the workforce. Either way, it might come back to bite them, as the best people are always the first to leave.

Any other lines of business that are going in 4 days besides Corp Risk?

The office has become a shell. For those who have returned, it feels like working in a morgue — silence, no collaboration, no energy. At least at home people could put the radio on and feel some life around them. We tried free coffee for a week, but once that was gone, so were the people. Now we have staff commuting in only to sit in isolation on video calls. It is soul-destroying, and I worry about the mental impact on those who are complying. If management isn’t prepared to properly enforce office attendance, then this halfway approach is pointless and damaging.