#returntooffice

Since that seems to be the goal. I wonder if it worked as intended, or if people, given the job market, are just trying hard to accommodate. I'm in the latter group. RTO is needlessly time-consuming, expensive, and it’s hard to see any reasonable explanation beyond pressuring people to quit. Coming into the office has made me less efficient, and nobody on my team is even nearby anyway. I’ve decided to go along with it for now while I look for another job. In this game of chicken, I'll let them be forced to lay me off. After so many years, I'm not leaving without a severance.

I am sure the majority of people in Burlington are enjoying their time WFH while smaller desks, and cramped quarters will be taking effect in the building for our return. I can speak for myself when I say my mental health has been so much better for the last 5 weeks, however knowing this is our last week WFH (fingers crossed it gets extended) my anxiety is creeping about returning to the office..

One, two, three
Two chairs—the music stops.
Follow the decree:
One of you will drop.

Central, East, West—
You’re safest in the middle.
This isn’t a test,
Or a well-thought riddle.

Experience used to matter.
Results were once measured.
Now talent’s grown scattered,
And good work? No longer treasured.

Does it end with you or me?
Customers first, the message repeats.
Hello, goodbye—latest casualty.
One less chair—fewer seats.

Did you see the culture survey?
Breakfast and mingle with leaders.
RTO and layoffs underplay
The truth beneath the speakers.

Am I the next to go?
Be cautious of the meeting.
Does anyone know
When comes the next reaping?

One, two, three—
Only one chair left.
You’ve been set free.
You can drop the heft.

So i told my manager I went home because there was no place to sit. The answer is to look at different days where not as many people are there. So we are supposed to go in to the office to collaborate with people but we are supposed to pick days when people aren’t there. Make it make sense.

https://www.businessinsider.com/stellantis-return-to-office-5-days-us-staff-rto-2026-1

Hi all

I don't work in IBM but an ex IBM guy is taking over where I work and RTO has been announced

Just wondering is it enforced at IBM ? Is there a min number of hours on site or can you just leave whenever
Thanks

Are they just weeks you’re required to go to office? What if no one on your team lives in the same state as you?

Saw a comment on a different post about “connect weeks” schedule being posted…. What’s that?

Are those weeks when you’re expected to come into the office? I assume where most if not all meetings are through Zoom?

Or is it Forced socializing?

No, major companies are not shifting towards greater WFH options/number of days. Home Depot is the latest major employer to confirm this.

"...On Wednesday, the Atlanta-based company confirmed to media outlets that it would lay off 800 staff and make corporate employees return to the office for five days per week in the interests of “in-person engagement..."

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. 😭

Stellantis orders employees to return to work 5 days a week

Coming to your town next !

We hear, even those who got a waiver to work off-site are to come in or lose their jobs.

The recent surge in FORD “ghost” job postings may now make more sense —HR likely anticipated increased turnover among employees who WFH getting canned.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/stellantis-orders-employees-to-return-to-work-5-days-a-week/ar-AA1VlIzy?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=DCTS&cvid=697d0bbac8ed45dfb96d01d3cbb642da&ei=73#comments

What do we think is going to happen with existing HBAs? For instance, I heard over 50% of the home office are HBA. I think it would be incredibly difficult to bring everyone back and hire the needed talent primarily out of St. Louis and Tempe. But I’m wondering what your guys thoughts are?

John Deere is recalling 99 employees for Iowa facilities. This decision stems from increased demand. Seventy-five workers will go to Davenport and 24 to Dubuque. All returning staff work in production and assembly. Their start date is set for mid-February.

https://www.kcci.com/article/john-deere-jobs-iowa-99-employees-return-davenport-dubuque/70174692

RTO is the industry standard---Live with it

Anyone else heard of this? Are they really going to go back to 1 week return to office? Heard from someone that works in HR

When HR 5 day in office required?

Why HR getting free pass to do nothing all day, every day.

I’m seeing the requirements get more and more scrutiny lately. Wondering if anyone’s heard any rumblings…

Most ppl impacted by snow received an email on Monday Jan 26 that in office policy will be relaxed this week..... Only to receive another email that in office policy is back in full effect starting Today Tuesday Jan 27.

So will Monday Jan 26 be exempted from in office reporting? Will we only have to go into office 2 days this week instead of 3?

Go look in Workday. They changed "Site Visits" to "Site Visit Maintenance" and it says "We are aware of issues with site level reporting and have temporarily taken the report down until those are resolved". This place is a circus.

Email from KS today doubling down on RTO. Wow.

It looks like one is now available

I see the new update, with the new dashboard on MySource highlighting exactly your in office exceptions seperate from other time off (e.g. holidays/sick).

Anyone have any insight on how the monitoring may change? Guessing there will be increased focus on the in-office exceptions.

https://www.inc.com/leila-sheridan/kevin-oleary-loves-why-his-companies-will-never-force-a-return-to-the-office/91291726

Does anyone go to the office during snow storms (when schools are closed) with this RTO mandate or do you just WFH and take the % ding?

I remember when they announced the shift to 4 days in office, they said they would review individual roles and let us know in January which are confirmed as 4 days in office, which would stay 2 days in office and a select few that would be remote. Anyone been officially notified?

https://www.inc.com/leila-sheridan/kevin-oleary-loves-why-his-companies-will-never-force-a-return-to-the-office/91291726

I saw an article pop up in business insider but it’s behind a paywall. Did you answer honestly?!

Skilled and experienced people can find another job more easily. They'll be the first to quit, followed by many decent people who can't meet the RTO requirements. I don't condone these attrition tactics, I think they're cheap and counterproductive. But if they have such a strong urge to push people out, why not do it strategically instead of shooting themselves in the foot?

1. Part of messaging to analysts that OpenText is continuing on its promised transformation as announced when MB was fired. This says, we mean business, we are pulling out people in, we have control over their output. When business declines, pretending to change the dynamic of a component of that failure is part of telling analysts your recovery story.
2. Attrition: Attrition is expected and welcome. There is a stat on this as part of the planing. Any employee contributing at high value or in a niche way is absolutely not on the handpicked RTO list.
3. The list is VERY deliberate. You will note that today's employer communication underscored sales teams are exempt. Sure they gave reasons, but the reality is, OT is in the business of SELLING not INVENTING. OT can and will easily replace any employee who Isn't selling and that includes sellers.
4. This is a preamble to the entrance of the new CEO. More control, more expectation, more oversight is the message.
5. Stay tuned. Several more big announcements coming including restructuring and leadership exits through the fiscal year.
6. Big carve out Q127
7. Big change coming for one of the "core" business units.
8. 1-6 are all part of the process of reducing headcount through voluntary exits (non executive) and golden parachutes for senior leaders.
9. Followed by a HUGE WFR.

There have been strong discussions that people managers, at every level and in all locations, should lead by example by being office-based.

If you are a virtual people manager at any level, anywhere in the world, you should expect your team to be managed by an office-based leader. What that means for you, I'm sure you can guess.

Yes, a new Office First policy will be announced.
No, not every employee will be mandated back to an office.
Yes, employees currently assigned as hybrid office based will be required to work from that office each day. No more 3 day schedule. This will happen over a few months.
Yes, if you are currently a virtual employee (meaning that your HR profile which you can access on Talent Central has you listed as virtual), AND your home address is within 31 miles of an OT office, you will be reassigned as an office employee and will be required to work from your assigned office every day. These employees will be given several months before they have to begin working from the office.
Yes, this applies to ALL employees in the US who live within that distance to an office, other than customer facing sales.
No, employees in countries with council will not immediately have to comply. OT is negotiating with these councils.

I assume Dallas will shut down this week when the snow hits. Some forecasts predict twelve inches. Is everyone planning to work from home? Or since we can’t get to the office, and that’s the only place we can work, do we get a snow day off? My supervisor is on maternity leave so no info coming,, wondering what others are hearing.

When revenue tightens and the stock slides, forcing five days in-office is pure waste. Higher real estate costs, higher attrition, lower productivity. If leadership is serious about discipline, RTO should be the first thing cut. However, it will just be headcount. Expect layoffs and FTW letters to increase at record speed.

I've heard on good authority that there are no changes to the hybrid schedule planned

If the return to office thing is happening, can someone confirm what will happen to virtual

There are thousands of virtual employees so they won't all be let go

Will they be told relocate ? Or will they remain virtual if over 50 miles to an office

Heard from a reliable source, that managers will be required to do 5 days a week in office from Sept this year and everyone from March 2027. Anyone else heard this?

The temperature could feel like as low as -4 F next week, and yet we still have to come to office and talk to people all over the world. But hey! our office is nice and warm right? My life is a beautiful dream. Thank you Robin!

I've noticed several people commenting about the need to be in the office 4 out of 6 weeks.

Don't managers get notified each week when someone isn't meeting the 3-day office requirement? How are people able to use the reporting period workaround?

So Apparently PNC will require all "In-Scope" employees to go back to the office five days a week starting May 4, 2026.
Some of my coworkers and other people I've talked to while doing technical support for the PNC employees feel this is a move to get people to quit in order to avoid having to lay off people.

I have been at 3 banks now, where I was hired fully remote and was eventually RTO5'd. All 3 happened after a large acquisition. Let me tell you, it's not fun. Here's the thing. Over the last 5+ years, these banks have hired great talent all over the country and have all done well. Look at PNC for example. YoY increase in profits, productivity, and stock price since being fully remote.
Here is what happens:
You drive ~1 hour round trip to commute (if you are lucky), with more expenses, less flexibility, and less sleep / mental well-being.
They haven't invested any money in the offices in years, so you sit in a run-down office with half of the amenities it may have once had.
You take team calls because your team and other teams you collaborate with are spread out all over the country, and do the same exact thing you did from home, but now from an office cubicle / open floor plan desk.
The objectively worse work environment + the lack of being able to take a mental break/reset eventually drives you mad.

This is not for collaboration or culture.
This is not going back to what it "used to be". As a matter of fact, most people in technology were hybrid long before Covid and NEVER worked 5 days in the office.
This is not "were going to see how this works out and maybe..."

Nope.

I don't know what the reason is. Maybe it's a soft layoff, and they want people to quit. Maybe it's from outside forces. Maybe it's because of the acquisition, and certain people want to continue to line their pockets more. It's probably all of the above.

Whatever it is, this is not what the employees wanted. Don't believe me? Check out the results from the end of year survey.

I am already hearing "this is what people wanted.", "The people who have already RTO have loved it.", "This is just an experiment, and no one knows what's going to be the outcome.", "People have been doing this for years before covid with no issues."
It's all BS.

What some of the downvoted comments on here have said are correct. If 5 days in isn't for you, then look for a new job or simply don't comply and get fired / inevitably laid off. Or suffer until one of the above happens.

I would really love to think that we the working people can do something to change this but it is painfully obvious that they do not care or have ulterior motives, so they are probably not going care about any counter efforts. They want some employees to stay and some employees to leave.
If the ones who they don't want to retain leave - great!
If the ones who they do want to retain leave - well, they can always be replaced.

We all want WFH just like we all want paid more, and how many companies have ever paid their employees more out of the kindness of their hearts?

They do not care about us and it's not just PNC it's 99% of all companies in this country.