#rto

Just when the furor over 4 day RTO began to die down now this.

Was told by a reliable source and that will be no exceptions.

Freshen up those resumes.

What is the latest with Phase 2 RTO and remote workers?

https://www.webpronews.com/dell-mandates-5-day-office-return-for-sales-teams-in-2025/

Is this for real? Have they even figured out the logistics yet?

Preferably for free. They’ll keep setting conditions and requirements harder to meet, so we either quit or give them grounds to fire us. Make your decisions accordingly. I wouldn’t relocate for a job these days under any circumstances. I want to keep my job, and I need it, especially now when the job market is horrendous and the future is very volatile. But the cost of relocating, both material and social, can’t be justified for a job that doesn’t pay all that much and that you could lose the day after you move.

I keep seeing people say “we are returning to working in the office because that’s how it always was”

Quick question - who had issues finding assigned seating, food, and stocked bathrooms with good toilet paper before covid?

Answer - nobody. Because RTO is not a return to how it was. It is way greedier and designed to be humiliating on purpose. Quit licking boots and be honest.

Did everyone see the email John Stankey sent us this Thursday morning? There is a video link of him showcasing AT&T's accomplishments this year and imitating Home Alone at the same time.

How on earth does the CEO of a major Fortune 50 company have time to film and act for this stuff while RTO-ing to an office 5 days a week.

Started at Schwab a while ago.

I have noticed that less than 50% of the people show up on a given day where I work. Many clock in at 9:30 or later, and are gone by 3:00, plus take a looong lunch break.

I am puzzled. Will the 4 day RTO really matter? Most people are not even showing up 3 days a week now, and nothing seems to happen

Has anyone heard any updates on RTO? How many days in the office and when would it start?

I have recently joined the MSR team. People talk about using JAR for RTO. Can someone explain what that is?

Can anyone confirm if remote employees will still need to relocate to an area office. The office in my market closed and I must say I am exited with the future opportunity to relocate to an office.

And where exactly do they plan to squeeze all those people?

I obviously hear and read about the horrors of Broadcom and every company. Are there any positive groups or orgs at all ? I was also told RTO is mandatory. Is there anything positive about the company or would you recommend new hires to avoid ? The stock might be good but means nothing if you get laid off prior to vesting

Most Ford management and employees lack ingenuity.

The leaders tries to copy other automotive companies and fails miserably. Constantly ties ways to burn cash. Flip-flops without proper market research or vision.

Employees constantly blame the leaders for failure. Few with good ideas are shot down, so now they have low morale and lack motivation.

Some great talents are lost due to RTO and low performers are still around us because they can badge in every day.

Ah yes, the latest RTO decree—marketed as “structure,” experienced as punishment with better lighting. It’s the corporate equivalent of saying “We care deeply about your well-being” while handing you a cage and a feathered costume.

Associates now shuffle back like coal-mine canaries, expected to chirp cheerfully while inhaling the fumes of hollow empathy. Leadership insists this is about “connection” and “culture,” but the only culture anyone feels is the petri dish of distrust spreading across every floor.

The irony? The very employees they’re chasing—the masters of remote camouflage—will simply relocate their hiding skills to cubicles. Instead of dodging Teams calls, they’ll dodge eye contact in open-plan seating. Mission accomplished, Executive Committee.

Meanwhile, the rest of us lose the flexibility that actually fueled productivity. Remember that quaint concept? It thrived when associates weren’t commuting two hours to sit in meetings that could have been emails. But optics matter more than outcomes. Nothing screams “strategic leadership” like forcing everyone to show up for the illusion of collaboration while trust remains missing in action—buried alongside the latest batch of layoff casualties.

And empathy? It rings so hollow it could double as an empty Christmas stocking. Every memo drips with “we understand” and “we value your contributions,” yet translates to “we don’t trust you unless we can watch you suffer in person.” Associates have cracked the code: empathy here is garnish, sprinkled on punishment to make it LinkedIn-ready.
BNY Mellon has perfected optics-as-strategy. The Executive Committee beams about “rebuilding culture,” while associates quietly wonder if culture is just another word for surveillance—or HR justification for not paying severance. HR and PR polish the fantasy, posting glossy updates about “thriving together,” while employees mutter, “thriving where, exactly?”

So yes, structure without trust is punishment. Punishment dressed up as empathy is satire. The Executive Committee may think they’re leading a renaissance, but associates know the truth: they’re just the canaries, feathers ruffled, waiting for the next puff of corporate smoke.

And now, the holiday “grace period.” The EC retreats to lavish resorts and second homes while commoners aka associates are told to recharge, believe the theater, and stop chirping about RTO.

Spoiler alert: the canaries aren’t fooled.

Division meeting today just ended. T.P says more ISPs coming. No number given, just the same ole same ole "transformation" jargon. Also, 700 HBAs impacted by the new RTO policy. They did this knowing a lot of those folks will rage quit or simply not be able to do RTO, leading to termination. Why is EDJ leadership actively at war with the very people who make the company home office work? It sure as Sh1t aint the GPs pulling this wagon.

Just heard from a source that field employees will potentially have to start going into office to work if they are not at dealerships. Seems to be on some high ups balance scorecard that they want to get all employees in office 5 days a week again.

Can anyone who attended the provider data ops meeting speak to the segment regarding the expansion of RTO mandates in 2026? I’ve heard mentions of a phased approach nationwide, but would like some confirmation as I didn’t attend that meeting.

Dear Uncle Billy,

I have decided that I do not wish to return to the office. Therefore, I won’t be doing so. This conclusion is final; and just to be clear, entirely beyond your power to control. You may find this frustrating, but rest assured, your ability to compel my presence in the office exists only in your imagination.

Sincerely,

Your #1 Teammate

I am being laid off as a direct result of the company’s return-to-office policy. I do not live near an office and relocating without financial support is not feasible. Despite being a top performer, there has been no acknowledgment, appreciation, or even basic empathy from leadership regarding the impact this decision has on me or several of my teammates. And to add icing to this cake, we will not be given severance and we will not be given our annual bonus.This “business decision“ impacts livelihoods- kids, tuitions, rent/ mortgage, etc! So who’s getting richer off of this? RV is.

For anyone considering joining the company, it’s important to understand that people are treated as numbers, valued only for what they contribute to the stock until they no longer fit the model.

Very common for companies to try and reduce costs with layoffs so I do get the reasoning behind that.

However, with that said it now seems with this unnecessary RTO, mandatory low performance ratings, and a variety of other items such as a large exodus of leadership..are they setting up the groundwork to find a buyer for the bank?

In other words it's as if they don't care how miserable they have made it working for the bank because it won't matter since the goal is to reduce employee costs to make the bank more attractive to a buyer.

I mean how are you supposed to grow the business when morale is way down and your employees have no faith or confidence in the leadership.

Pivot assignment: make Amazon stock price reach $350/share in the middle of 2026 without doing further layoffs (forced or RTO/silent).

I am officially designated as a hybrid employee in MN.
My manager and entire team are fully remote.
I have not been going to the office since the RTO policy took effect.
Are there others in a similar situation, and if so, how has this been addressed under the current RTO policy?

Anyone know how they’re handling this? I’d assume the 2025 reviews won’t count since those are about to be released, and December probably won’t roll into the 2026 cycle either.

I’d hope they are a little more lax with the holidays.

Has anyone gotten approved for medical exemption to not RTO?

Has anyone been able to not RTO due to a medical condition?

Take all your sh1t back and forth, fight for space, zero personalization, spread everyone’s germs, sit on Teams calls with team members down the hall or across the world… and do it 4 days a week.

Enjoy your check and stfu cattle.

I find it almost comical that companies still wrap RTO in “collaboration and efficiency” fluff, when we all know it’s really about pushing people out cheaply. Add in micromanagement and a pathological need for total control, and it becomes truly demeaning and ridiculous. Utterly unnecessary for efficiency, performance, or teamwork. But then again, the substance has clearly never been the priority.

Since the expanded in office 8 hours mandate has it been harder to plan meetings. Most people I know, including me, have hard start and stops now. Good luck trying to set up a call with india, nyc, mn and az. There is a window of like 3 hours. When they treated us like professionals most of us would take calls before going in to the office or after we got home. No more. When the measurement is time and not quality they get time but not quality.

Follow up on TRo:
To nobody's shock, the actual reason behind RTO is due to inflate real estate value.
Confirmed increase in investment in local hire, goal is to eliminate remote hires entirely.
Current remote employees will be eliminated over time, first on the chopping block.
Expect a surge of investment into office spaces.

Confirmed february layoffs

I got softly notified that more RTO is coming for big offices like Cypress, CA. Similar context to MN and DC RTO and it will be in effect Feb or Mar 2026.

Just had a conversation with my Director and they stated that Enbridge in Ontario will be going back to full 5 days per week in the second quarter. Stated this is to be in line with the Province of Ontario mandated all government workers back to a full 5 days.

I do believe what I was told but guess will wait and see.

NY/NJ region will be letting go of underperforming and non compliant RTO employees early in Q1

How strict has the 4 days in office requirement been?

Any rumors of the Irving campus going to 3 days a week in 2026? Mainly asking because we all saw the news of Tampa.

Forget the LAN/VPN tracking, forget the Presence Report, forget the badge swipes...we are now being tracked on how many Teams meetings we have and are also attending.

Have a Teams meeting with a large group and you and your boss/team all go into a teleconference room? Guess what...make sure to log in to the meeting so you don't get dinged for not participating. L3 and up will begin adding a lot more Teams meetings for things they used to just walk over and ask someone or ping them. This is a new metric for productivity.

What a hellscape being managed by HR re--rds and Re--rd-in-Chief Stankey

Maybe I’m naive, but I joined UHC in the BT era and my first town hall was one where he announced everyone was getting $50 to the UHC store to buy some swag. Then it was the new floating holiday. Just felt like the all employee meetings had energy and excitement and I felt like UHC was a great place to work.

Since BT’s death, it’s felt like a black cloud over the entire org. Like we’re in a free fall. Constant layoffs. Cutting employee benefits. RTO handled so poorly. Never accepting questions at the town halls and all employee meetings.

Was it always such a sh---y place to work, or was last December the catalyst for all this?

AT&T needs to look at the various test teams. They seem to have the testing being done by contractors, but the employees, since RTO, are now located time zones away and unable to manage them. The testing should be collocated with the engineering teams and be accomplished with our employees, instead of wasting money on contractors that don’t have any skin in the game and couldn’t care less what happens with AT&T. With the current moves that are happening they should move employees from the FirstNet, IoT, and development teams to Redmond, where the majority of testing is being done.

Anyone has to stay in the office when they come in for their full shift? Our leadership is pushing managers to make sure their staffs stay in the office for their full 8 hours of shift, especially in JAB. Those in JAB who's managers are in KC are also to video call their managers in non-JAB location every morning to confirm they are in fact in the office from start of their shift as well.