#returntooffice

Who even believes that anymore? It's been about attrition from day one.

I got sent screenshot of my office report after I was told I wasn't making it in the required amount of time. (I had an approved exception for some time January, which wasn't factored into the report making it look like, I haven't been in the required time).

4 hrs of pto counts as a day in as do holidays.

Ask any questions you may have!

Has Amit hinted he might enforce a RTO…?

Home Depot recently announced significant changes for its corporate workforce. The company eliminated 800 positions, primarily affecting remote employees. Despite these layoffs, Home Depot plans to create 250 new jobs in Cobb County. Corporate workers are now required to return to the office weekly, supported by a child care center expansion and new parking. Company officials assert that Home Depot remains financially sound and is growing.

https://www.mdjonline.com/news/local/home-depot-employees-return-to-office-at-cobb-headquarters-after-layoffs/article_b6317a58-5623-4f02-94b3-834caa4d404b.html

RTO is absolute insanity. I have 10 people on my team. None of us are in the same state outside of two people in Texas who aren't in the same city. We have to go back to the office, surrounded by employees we dont work with or collaborate with in any way, so we can join the same remote teams meetings we would while home. Now I find out from someone in cyber security that they are monitoring our key strokes, web searches and Microsoft apps.

RTO was about the executives leveraging their control over one of the few bright spots we had working here, flexibility.

Schwab is getting ready to announce (either to PLs or company-wide) that they will no longer hire in these locations. If you have been checking the job postings lately you probably already noticed this.

After requiring many of us to return to the office for “collaboration” and “growth,” this decision creates a serious issue. Employees in these offices may have little to no path for advancement.

I spoke with a hiring manager about an open role. Even though I sit just a few seats away in the same office he would not have been allowed to hire me or anyone else in my office. He would have had to hire someone in another state.

So much for in office collaboration!

Even employees working remotely due to medical accommodations, if they report into one of these offices, would not be eligible for those roles.

One again, terrible decisions made by senior leadership making huge impacts on our livelihood.

RTO = Bad

I can’t believe how overcrowded and busy this branch is now. AUS3 is packed to the brim and it’s an absolute joke how messy this process was. So ecstatic to have my headphones in 8 hours a day while I work with people scattered across the country and the WFH contractors. Amazing returns on RTO for me, I still don’t need to speak to a single person in office since I don’t work with them! Thanks for the massive pay cut via commute time, gas, and vehicle wear and tear!

Legislators have apparently taken note as return to office (RTO) mandates continue to roil workforces at financial and technology firms. A bipartisan effort has led to the establishment of a toll-free hotline (1-888-299-3022, M-F 9 AM-4:30 PM EST). Operators are standing by to record and advise on RTO-related complaints, particularly as applies to difficulties involving childcare, commutes, and health issues. There’s no guarantee that action will be taken, although there reportedly may be in egregious cases and every data point is important in painting a picture of the problem.

Just an FYI. Our division head was told Friday, IP address tracking and log in times are now being used to cross check FULL days in office. The reporting has always been around, senior management is now reviewing on a monthly basis.
There is discussion regarding adding a dropdown when logging in as well. Attesting when you are logging in, In Office or Remote.

I’ve never worked at a place where they put this much effort into trying to punish employees.

Read here that a tiny group might get to stay remote, at their manager's discretion. Any real criteria behind it, or just who you know?

Has anyone heard of any changes to in-office expectations from 4 days to 5 days in office?

VPs and above are not going into the office while others are forced to go in 5x a week. These “leaders” have excuses like they’re at an offsite or their car keeps breaking down. There is even a VP who takes a flight from Florida each week to go into the NY office but does not go in every day. Meanwhile its been sparse at the office with anyone below VP level and people come in for just a few hours. There’s even some talk between senior leaders about only coming in some days. Some teams go in everyday while others on different floors don’t seem to be going in at all. There’s no work, people scrolling on their phones all day, and people on the same floor slacking each other because they don’t want to walk to their meetings. And looks like they’re still hiring remote positions.

This place is a sh-t show, pays like sh-t, and we get treated like sh-t. Meanwhile “leadership” gets paid more than 6 figures, have people cook and clean for them, people to take care of their kids, while we have to slave away in traffic and do nothing at the office. DE said RTO was so successful, but what is even the measurement? The guy talks out of his a-s and the so-called “leadership” covers for each other but not for the people who are actually doing whatever work there is.

Make it make sense!

Anything worth sharing here?

It's recently come to my attention that any remote employees that live close to an office they are able to travel to will be told to go back to office again. There are teams that are remote only that will be told the same thing that do not live anywhere close to an office and will have to either move, or will be let go.

So, they waited until 4:20 AM to send a text to announce the office was closed due to 18 inches of snow, yet last month when we were already working from home due to office renovations, they sent the alert out at 7 pm Sunday night, and that storm was about half the size.

I think most people were out shoveling snow instead of working online, can’t blame them lol. I know I snuck offline for a few hours for that very reason, barely did squat today. That’s a big middle finger to SK. You could literally do nothing, WITHOUT taking a personal day, and nobody could give a flying fadoodle.

With that being said, I’m guessing this stupid three in-office day rule applies this week?

With the pending cuts and return to the office , I would like to know will the office be providing free coffee and lunch at least one day a week? Am i going to have equipment at the office and at home? I should not have to carry my computer, monitors, cables between home and the office.
I now will have lost time due to travel, have to spend money on travel to and from the office.
I have been told that it is expected we are in the office eight to five and they will be monitoring who is late or leaves early. This place gets worse by the minute

Guess I should just be greatful to still have a job but man does this su-k. Guess I should've seen it coming.

Does it actually matter whether your RTO is ‘above model’ or ‘on model’?
Because showing up 4 days a week is enough tiring. Going beyond that starts to feel like voluntary suffering.

When do the people working from home have to report back to office.

I just was offered a telecommuter position in Minnesota. I was wondering if anyone know if there are plans to expand the RTO radius?

No benefit to this. More attrition and lost productivity on it way.

Are the consulting roles at PwC’s Atlanta office hybrid, fully remote, or strictly in-office? If hybrid, how many days in office is required?

https://www.aol.com/articles/cubicles-dead-says-kevin-oleary-171606254.html

The workforce is changing and companies ignoring it are setting themselves up to fail. Kevin O’Leary recently said, “Cubicles are dead,” and warned that forcing people back into offices will only attract the bottom quartile of talent. Millennials and Gen Z now dominate the labor market, and for them work-life balance and flexibility are not perks, they are baseline expectations. As Baby Boomers phase out, companies insisting on five-day RTO will find themselves competing for the shrinking pool of workers who can’t leave.

RTO isn’t just a morale issue. It destroys value, drives top talent away, and leaves companies exposed with only the least mobile employees. The lesson is clear: productivity, collaboration, and retention follow autonomy, not attendance. Any leadership that believes otherwise is betting against the future of work.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/boomer-gen-x-bosses-retire-133952598.html

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As boomer and Gen X bosses retire, working from home will make a major comeback, new research predicts—and it’s all thanks to work-life balance loving Gen Z bosses
Orianna Rosa Royle
Tue, February 17, 2026 at 7:39 AM CST 4 min read

I'm 67, $1.5M: How Much Can I Reduce RMDs By Converting $120k To Roth? (Ask An Advisor)
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Miss the pandemic era of working from home? Give it a decade or two, and it’s set to be the norm again. That’s because, although baby boomer and Gen X bosses may be winning the return-to-office war right now, new data suggests it’s a short-lived victory.

In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that millennial and Gen Z bosses are far more likely to let staff work remotely than their older counterparts—and that it’s only a matter of time before they take over and bring their affinity for flexibility with them.

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Fortune
As boomer and Gen X bosses retire, working from home will make a major comeback, new research predicts—and it’s all thanks to work-life balance loving Gen Z bosses
Orianna Rosa Royle
Tue, February 17, 2026 at 7:39 AM CST 4 min read

I'm 67, $1.5M: How Much Can I Reduce RMDs By Converting $120k To Roth? (Ask An Advisor)
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Miss the pandemic era of working from home? Give it a decade or two, and it’s set to be the norm again. That’s because, although baby boomer and Gen X bosses may be winning the return-to-office war right now, new data suggests it’s a short-lived victory.

In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that millennial and Gen Z bosses are far more likely to let staff work remotely than their older counterparts—and that it’s only a matter of time before they take over and bring their affinity for flexibility with them.

More from Yahoo Scout

How does remote work connect to AI adoption?

How will younger CEOs change remote work policies?

What advantages do remote-first companies have over traditional offices?

What drives generational differences in workplace flexibility approaches?

The researchers tracked monthly surveys of 8,000 U.S. workers aged 20 to 64 across 2025 and concluded that when it comes to flexible working, two things are consistently true: employees at younger firms, and under younger CEOs, spend significantly more time working from home.

“First, employees work from home more often at younger firms—almost twice as often at firms founded after 2015 as compared to those founded before 1990,” the researchers wrote. “Second, employees work from home more often at firms with younger CEOs.”

In fact, you can see in their data that as CEOs get younger, the number of days they demand staff work from an office decreases, with those working under a twenty-something-year-old chief working from home the most.

It’s why the researchers concluded that work from home is poised to make a comeback, despite the likes of Amazon and JPMorgan currently mandating a full-time office return. As older leaders retire, the days of b-ms on seats five days a week are likely to fade with them.

In other words, your future commute may depend less on what HR says and more on the birth year of the person in the corner office.

And for workers who don’t want to wait, the study offers a simple hack: target younger firms with younger bosses if you want to maximize your chances of keeping your home office setup.

Gen Z bosses aren’t just flexible-first, they’re also digital-first
It’s not just that young bosses came of age during the pandemic’s remote work bo-m and see office cubicles as an outdated relic. Many of them built their businesses on Slack, Zoom, and AI tools, so flexibility and technology are baked into how their firms run—not bolted on as a perk.

The researchers found a clear correlation between younger CEOs and companies that are both flexible-first and digital-first, with leaders who embrace remote work also more likely to adopt new technologies and software-driven approaches to running their teams.

And that echoes what future-thinking CEOs have already been warning: Leaders who cling to the old ways of working aren’t serious about embracing AI.
“Forget about where people are working. Most companies will go by the wayside if they don’t embrace AI,” Mark Dixon, CEO and founder of International Workplace Group (IWG), exclusively told Fortune. “If you look at winners and losers, the winners are the ones that embrace the technology.”

“Embracing the whole of the technology, which is flexible work, flexible location, high levels of technology, using technology to get more out of your people. Those will be the winning companies, because they focus on the people,” Dixon warns.

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Fortune
As boomer and Gen X bosses retire, working from home will make a major comeback, new research predicts—and it’s all thanks to work-life balance loving Gen Z bosses
Orianna Rosa Royle
Tue, February 17, 2026 at 7:39 AM CST 4 min read

I'm 67, $1.5M: How Much Can I Reduce RMDs By Converting $120k To Roth? (Ask An Advisor)
Finance Advisors
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Miss the pandemic era of working from home? Give it a decade or two, and it’s set to be the norm again. That’s because, although baby boomer and Gen X bosses may be winning the return-to-office war right now, new data suggests it’s a short-lived victory.

In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that millennial and Gen Z bosses are far more likely to let staff work remotely than their older counterparts—and that it’s only a matter of time before they take over and bring their affinity for flexibility with them.

More from Yahoo Scout

How does remote work connect to AI adoption?

How will younger CEOs change remote work policies?

What advantages do remote-first companies have over traditional offices?

What drives generational differences in workplace flexibility approaches?

The researchers tracked monthly surveys of 8,000 U.S. workers aged 20 to 64 across 2025 and concluded that when it comes to flexible working, two things are consistently true: employees at younger firms, and under younger CEOs, spend significantly more time working from home.

“First, employees work from home more often at younger firms—almost twice as often at firms founded after 2015 as compared to those founded before 1990,” the researchers wrote. “Second, employees work from home more often at firms with younger CEOs.”

In fact, you can see in their data that as CEOs get younger, the number of days they demand staff work from an office decreases, with those working under a twenty-something-year-old chief working from home the most.

It’s why the researchers concluded that work from home is poised to make a comeback, despite the likes of Amazon and JPMorgan currently mandating a full-time office return. As older leaders retire, the days of b-ms on seats five days a week are likely to fade with them.

In other words, your future commute may depend less on what HR says and more on the birth year of the person in the corner office.

And for workers who don’t want to wait, the study offers a simple hack: target younger firms with younger bosses if you want to maximize your chances of keeping your home office setup.

Gen Z bosses aren’t just flexible-first, they’re also digital-first
It’s not just that young bosses came of age during the pandemic’s remote work bo-m and see office cubicles as an outdated relic. Many of them built their businesses on Slack, Zoom, and AI tools, so flexibility and technology are baked into how their firms run—not bolted on as a perk.

The researchers found a clear correlation between younger CEOs and companies that are both flexible-first and digital-first, with leaders who embrace remote work also more likely to adopt new technologies and software-driven approaches to running their teams.

And that echoes what future-thinking CEOs have already been warning: Leaders who cling to the old ways of working aren’t serious about embracing AI.

“Forget about where people are working. Most companies will go by the wayside if they don’t embrace AI,” Mark Dixon, CEO and founder of International Workplace Group (IWG), exclusively told Fortune. “If you look at winners and losers, the winners are the ones that embrace the technology.”

“Embracing the whole of the technology, which is flexible work, flexible location, high levels of technology, using technology to get more out of your people. Those will be the winning companies, because they focus on the people,” Dixon warns.

As other leaders have pointed out, firms that focus on physical presence rather than remote, AI-driven work risk falling behind competitors.

Brian O’Kelley, the tech founder who sold AppNexus to AT&T for $1.6 billion in 2018, before founding Scope3, argued that remote firms, like his, have the top pick of top global talent and operate around the clock.

“The best companies are going to actually dump their offices to learn to work with non-bodied employees,” O’Kelley echoed in Fortune. “Anybody who has a back-to-office culture is actually hurting themselves.”

Being spread across time zones doesn’t just make his workforce available to customers at all hours of the day—it forces teams to be efficient and lean on the latest tech in ways traditional office-based companies simply don’t need to.

That’s why companies fixated on presence rather than productivity gains that actually enable an AI-first future are at a disadvantage.

“The thing is, if you build a culture that’s asynchronous and remote, it means you’re building a culture for AI to thrive,” O’Kelley added. “If you’re building an office culture, you are actually not building an AI-first ecosystem.”

I know this has been beaten to the ground but I'm venting and am questioning how harshly anyone is even paying attention to RTO...

I'm so tired of driving a solid hour to the office every single day, wasting gas and paying $20 a week on TOLLS only to be there for a few hours... With ONE other person on my team. I'm spending about $100 a week just to go to work and sit on fkn virtual calls I can do at home while dealing with dogshit WiFi. If I lived 15 mins away I wouldn't care about it tbh; but I drive 80 miles a day + gas + tolls + unnecessary car mileage to do sh-t I can do at home.

I took my computer to tech central last week because I hadn't used it in years - a test machine - and they told me Dell took all the LAN wires, switches and routers out for LAN connectivity as they never planned on having anyone RTO... Yet, here we are.

Being forced to work in half baked offices with not enough docks or desks, being forced to park half a mile away from your building, INSANE cafe prices for food that is sub-par at best - and most is bought from freakin HEB (grocery store) lol.. all while raises are comical and promotions are non existent.

I love my job and unfortunately rely on those paychecks so, I'll be a good peon and go in

did anyone fill out the RTO survey yet?

I am also curious what you all think… do you feel our feedback will actually be taken seriously? I am wondering how much impact it might have.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Remember folks, there is no such thing as loyalty in Corporate America for its customers, workers, or even its brand: just the shareholders. Our salaries are only based on how hard it is to replace us and with AI and increased offshoring we are seen more as a burden and expense than as an asset. Ive been with this company for 25+ years. When I started it was preached that the lower pay was because the company was a place where if you worked hard, they would invest in your development, you can advance, and your job security was pretty high because where we like a family. That was true for the first 15 years of my career here, the workplace culture was excellent. That drastically changed since the end of the pandemic. Im hoping to make it a few more years before a RIF so I can just retire. I feel bad for those having to deal with this here or any major company in the United States. Get ready for two major items in the next 6 months: Major RIFs/layoffs and a full return to office mandate. If you don't come back to the office because you believed the company a few years ago about living wherever you wanted and being able to work or work life balance, you might want to start looking for a new job/career now. If you are an office or hybrid worker, new tech is coming to help HR track you better even if your manager is located in a completely different office or continent. AI is getting better and offshoring is increasing. The talk about doing the "right thing" has been stifled if it does not align with the new "model." The only thing that will make this company improve its workers culture is if the economy, job markets, and competition improve, and until there is a new administration, I doubt that will happen.

Parking at the Plano locations has gotten so bad, the police are starting to write tickets and tow cars. If you get to work after 8:30, forget about it. If you leave for lunch, forget about it when you come back. Your only option is a park & ride lot over 2 miles away. At least the company runs a shuttle back and forth all day.

ENGINE only need to work 2 or 3 days in office.

Maybe their pay should be reduced, since the rest of the company now it’s required to work 4x days?

does WF have enough space? Our location is quite crowded already.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-is-planning-a-big-return-to-office-rto-push-2025-12

For the employees located in South Jersey/Burlington who have been working from home the last 6 weeks due to renovations to make room for CFS in July, how is everyone feeling going back in tomorrow? I am not going to lie, dreading it.. Not only just the mere fact of going back into the office after being in a better place mentally from WFH, but like alot of people, seating arrangements are not great, alot doesn't make sense, I feel like it will be just another giant cluster*u-k.. I know we should be grateful about having a job, but I know plenty of people that are wishing they were one of the ones laid off--all we can hope for is that another round comes in the summer..

So you're mandated to go into the office and you don't have assigned seats? I saw someone say they have to go in before 7am in order to get a seat? Diabolical.

Supposedly anyone within 25 miles of any office. Good luck.

As much as people are fighting it now, the reality is we'll adapt. We always do. The strong feelings about WFH will soften, and showing up at the office will go back to being the unremarkable default. It's inevitable. Sad but very much true.

CEO:
Good afternoon, Team. I want to thank the 11 of you who were able to join this mandatory town hall on such short notice. We scheduled this meeting early and during your daily commute time so you would be more productive and there would be less chance you might attend. Your presence today demonstrates your commitment to our shared vision of Transformative Workforce Realignment™.

Before we begin, I want to address the rumors circulating online.
No, we are not conducting layoffs.
We are simply rebalancing our talent ecosystem through a series of performance‑aligned, location‑optimized, AI‑enhanced workforce transitions.

Let me explain.

“1. We Are Not Downsizing — We Are Rightsizing”

Some of you may have noticed that your colleagues have… disappeared.
This is not a layoff.
This is Strategic Talent Migration™.

We are migrating talent out of the company and into the broader economy, where they can pursue exciting new opportunities that we have thoughtfully curated by eliminating their roles.
This is what leadership looks like.

“2. Your Performance Rating Is Not About You”
You may have recently received a performance rating that surprised you.
Perhaps you were rated “Exceeds Expectations” for 14 consecutive years and suddenly received “Needs Immediate Intervention.”
Let me be clear:
This is not a reflection of your performance.
This is a reflection of our organizational tax strategy.

We are committed to avoiding WARN Act triggers, and your rating plays a critical role in that mission.

Remember:
When you grow, we grow.
When you go, our SUI tax rate stays low.

“3. Return‑to‑Office Is About Culture, Not Attrition”
Some have asked why we require you to return to the office even though:

• Your office was closed
• Your team is in three different time zones
• Your desk has been replaced by a potted plant
• Your badge no longer opens the door

Let me assure you:
RTO is not about forcing resignations.
It is about rebuilding community — specifically, the community of people who still work here after RTO.

“4. Global Talent Optimization”
We are proud to announce that we are expanding our global footprint in Pune and Manchester. This is not because labor costs are lower.
It is because we believe in unlocking global synergies.
And if those synergies happen to cost 80% less per headcount, that is simply a happy coincidence.

“5. AI Is Not Replacing You — It Is Empowering You”
Some of you have expressed concern that AI is taking over your job.
This is a misunderstanding.
AI is not replacing you.
AI is freeing you — from your responsibilities, your role, and your employment.
We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition as you train the AI that will empower your future successor.

6. “Why You Didn’t Receive a WARN Notice”
I want to address this directly.

You did not receive a WARN notice because:
• We did not lay off enough people at once
• We spread reductions across multiple 30‑day windows
• We reclassified separations as “performance‑aligned exits”
• We encouraged voluntary resignations
• We relocated roles to places you cannot physically reach
• We believe in agile workforce management

WARN notices are for companies that lack creativity.
We are innovators.

***Q&A Session***

***Employee:***
Why are so many people being rated poorly all of a sudden?
***CEO:***
Great question.
We are committed to data‑driven performance excellence, and the data shows that our reduction targets require a 17% increase in “Needs Improvement” ratings.

***Employee:***
Why are U.S. jobs being moved offshore?
***CEO:***
We are not moving jobs offshore.
We are expanding global opportunities while sunsetting domestic redundancies.

***Employee:***
Are more layoffs coming?
***CEO:***
We do not comment on future workforce transitions.
But we can confirm that ***your role is critical to our success*** — until it isn’t.

***Moderator:***  
Now that's all the time we have. Sorry (not) we can't take any more questions.

Closing Remarks

CEO:
Thank you for your continued dedication to our mission of Sustainable Workforce Optimization™.
We value each and every one of you — especially those who remain after this meeting.
Remember:
We are one team.
One vision.
One continuous reduction cycle.

Have a great rest of your day, and now please check Workday for updates to your performance rating.

Wendy Stewart (yuck) confirmed it today on a presentation call. Starting in March, it’s 5 days with 5 floaters a month. So, in typical arrogant banker talk, it’s more confusing than needs to be. It’s 4 days for 3 of the weeks in a month, and 3 days for one of the weeks, via the 5 floater days.

This place truly does su-k. No raises. No bonuses. Just cr-p.

Every one of the leaders should ask THEMSELVES this question and think about the “deposits” they’re making with the employee base. You have no “money in the bank” with the employees since you fuxed everyone over with 5 day RTO.

Potential employee here. I know 5 days per week in office is the official policy, but is it actually enforced across 100% of teams? I know a lot of similar companies have RTO policies on paper, but they aren't policed. Thanks in advance;