That's a deal breaker for me. I know that probably means I'll be fired, but so be it. I'll ride it out as long as I can from home. I'm not worried about finding a new job. I can afford to take a pay cut if necessary to make sure I continue working remotely. My life has improved too much for me to even consider going back to the way things were.
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plot twist: great talent != top talent.
Agreed with the rest.
Wrong, FactSet had and still has some great talent. But they’ve been trickling out for a long time. And not only because of comp. It’s frustrating to see midwit leadership sc--w up this bad.
They should consider making plans their regular way (hiring, policies) and then literally doing the opposite.
plot twist: factset never had a top talent.
Plot twist: most of the top talent is already gone
Let the resignations begin...
Honestly I’m glad I’m not the only one realizing these things…. Thought I was being jaded/cynical.
The leadership team talks about pulling all the “levers” that they can - they canceled anniversary gifts. Those cost less than $100 per gift and were only given to people on like 5, 10, 15 year, etc… how many people reached those milestones in a given year… I’d guess that program cost them less than 10k/year.
Yet they actively ignore the elephant in the room that their executive compensation makes up multi million dollar savings.
Largely absent from everything has been Phil, he’s supposed to be the CEO and “rallying the troops” but his silence is deafening.
Flexible work was the only real benefit to working here. What's left in all honesty? We don't match market pay, we don't pay for on call time, we now have added cost of commuting in. My guess is lunch program will be cut too... All before we even think about cutting executive pay. And the cherry on top is the facilities budget cut so we can't even have milk for our coffee any more...
Plus, I seriously doubt the ELT will adhere to their own policy.
I will also stand and I will not be returning to the office.
So if we need to be in office to collaborate does that mean that teammates will now be moved to the same office? If ELT is really concerned about collaboration they would meet us halfway and colocate content, product, and engineering by product.
I posed a question to HR about a reasonable short term accommodation for one of my reports to rto. They said it was up to manager's discretion when and how much the employee RTOs. As the manager, I asked if they could codify this or put it in the system that is going to track the employee. They said that it was not necessary.
Odd since denying this simple extension request could open them up to a lawsuit. They can use not returning to the office to fire the employee or use it against me, the manager, for using "discretion".
The whole conversation i saved off my work computer just in case.
This whole thing is cr×ppy.
Haha, go buy yourself some Kit Kats from Costco and enjoy the freedom of going to the bathroom in your own home, being able to decompress after a frustrating meeting without having to save face and be fake around everyone.
I’ll go back in as long as they still have Kit Kats in the Norwalk office
From people I've talked to, I think easily 10-15% of the engineering workforce will not comply with RTO. If they crack down and start firing people, it will be the top talent who have the least to lose (because they can easily find another job).
I feel like there will be enough quit threats during this "re-apply for remote" process that either the temperature will be turned down, or else exceptions will be quietly granted for key employees, which is BS.
@1chr+1qYvXU4H maybe that's true for sales/consulting but why does engineering need to come sit in the office to type on our computers and sit in teams meetings with our teammates who moved away?
I know for a fact that this will decrease my team's productivity, and cause multiple team members to go find new jobs that are remote-friendly. But, there doesn't appear to be any way to communicate that opinion. It's just forced down our throats, consequences be damned.
We’re in 2024, the clients are living under ancient corporate regimes run by boomers, who expect things to operate exactly as they knew it growing up. Our clients are prime examples of directors who took bets on corporate real estate and ate their words when the pandemic hit. Looking at JP Morgan and the multi billion dollar office buildings they built in NY, and probably elsewhere. So why do the workers have to pay the price for the director’s mistakes?
Tell me honestly that you can focus clearly in a packed office environment compared to a quiet home office? Tell me honestly that you enjoy going to the bathroom in a stall with nasty smells from coworkers compared to your own toilet at home?
If the work can be done, and done well. It doesn’t matter where it’s done.
lol @1chr+1qYvXU4H. A lot of companies in our space are mostly if not 100% remote. Many even trending towards that 100% mark. Unless Bloomberg constitutes "every company in our space".
But hey, you've clearly taken an empathetic stance on exactly why this may be a major issue for many people.
Appreciate your consideration - we're gonna go drink some milk and grow up big and strong JUST FOR YOU! Good job representing the FactSet culture by the way. That'll really attract the talent.
Oh grow up! Every company in the sector has imposed much more restrictive practices. The client base - remember those guys that pay the bills that pays the bills - is under huge pressure and looking to cut costs all over the place. If you are not in front of your clients your competition will be. Your level of entitlement is nuclear-grade. Open up your next job interview with ‘..and I intend to do all this without ever coming into the office’ and let us know how many firms are queueing up for you.
Responding to myself - I now have very much heard about this lol.
I'll submit a futile exception form, but regardless, I'm not going. Downside is that if you don't go, they can fire you for cause ("insubordination") and deny you a package.
Can't wait to get inspired and increase collaboration with everyone....from my home office.
So, the company had this golden ticket for snagging the best of the best talent by letting people work in their pajamas from the comfort of their living rooms, while the rest of the corporate world was herding their employees back into cubicles. And now, they've decided to toss that gem right out the window. Instead, they're all aboard the buzzword express, championing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) like they're the latest trend. Because, you know, who needs work-life balance when you can have acronyms? Watch as this master plan spectacularly backfires, sparking a spectacular display of plummeting morale and a parade of resignations. Because nothing says "we value you" quite like stripping away flexibility and doubling down on corporate jargon.
There’s more to life than work. We’ve worked from home for 4 f’ing years and the company did incredibly well. We’ve proven it can easily be done from home. If they care so much about productivity, it’s impossible to get anything done with people yapping on the phone behind you. If you have the misfortune of getting stuck at a desk near the office kitchen, good luck getting anything done. Not to mention - lunch cost, commuting time and cost, dry cleaning, child care, etc. I don’t see FactSet spending money to subsidize all those things and I don’t know about you all but with the salaries we have and inflation having increased prices of every day essentials, it’s become cost prohibitive to go to the office.
Apparently in Germany and France they have labor laws that prevent forced RTO
Not to mention. Everyone’s forgotten about COVID, but it’s still spreading rampantly as are all sorts of other viruses. Bootlickers come in coughing their lungs out and proclaiming “it’s just allergies, I’m not contagious” . Cramming people into tiny spaces to sit on zoom calls with colleagues in other locations around the globe is the definition of insanity. And you have to book available desks through that id--tic system called Robin… this could be a sitcom…
Yeah it’s a nightmare! Who wants to go back to bathrooms where nasty coworkers are stinking up the stalls with whatever garbage they consumed, all for the sake of “building culture” forget that nonsense!! People wake up. These companies are parasites and they will squeeze every last drop before throwing you to the curb.
I truly don’t blame you. It seems like a power play. Why didn’t they say something drying our past company meeting? Sounds like the official announcement is coming tomorrow. All I know is all he-l is going to break loose.
I didn't hear anything about this....