Anyone have updates?
15 replies (most recent on top)
@fv Remote work is definitely not the issue. If you have a strong work ethic and take pride in your work, you'll perform well whether you're in the office or working remotely. A good employee is a good employee.
The reality is there are lazy employees in both settings. There are office workers who spend half their day in meetings that accomplish nothing or chatting in the hallways. There are also remote workers attending their kids' sporting events, walking their dogs during calls, or unable to present because they're multitasking. I could make a long list of unproductive employees in both environments.
The one thing I'll concede is that when you're in the office, you can't hide as easily. You can't lie down, take a nap, watch a soccer game, or do your grocery shopping. You're physically there, people can see you, and there's more accountability simply because you're visible.
Where I completely disagree is the idea that being in the office leads to better career advancement. At BD, promotions have far more to do with having a leader who champions you than with where you work or how skilled you are. I know plenty of remote employees who have been promoted multiple times since COVID. Being in the office doesn't automatically get you anything if you're invisible to leadership.
And let's stop pretending it's purely about performance. It's often about aligning yourself with leadership, saying all the right things, and buying into every initiative without question. If you can put aside your pride, tell leadership what they want to hear, and enthusiastically support every new corporate slogan—even when you don't believe it—you'll probably get ahead.
So no, I don't believe remote work is the problem. The problem is that promotions aren't always based on merit.
@f8 I’m not sure why remote work continues to attract so much criticism. Whether a role can be performed effectively from home ultimately depends on the nature of the work itself.
In many cases, remote employees go above and beyond compared to their in-office counterparts. For example, when meetings are scheduled at 6:30 a.m., remote employees are generally expected to be online and fully engaged. This is particularly common for employees based on the West Coast who report to leadership teams on the East Coast. Remote employees also put more hours in work on an average.
Ironically, employees working from the office often benefit from greater visibility and more opportunities for informal interactions with leadership. Remote employees, on the other hand, frequently contend with the classic "out of sight, out of mind" challenge, which can impact recognition and career progression despite strong performance.
We certainly have skill issues, but attributing those issues to remote work misses the mark. The root causes lie elsewhere, and remote work is not the driving factor behind them.
If we're being objective, some of the weakest performers are sitting in Franklin Lakes, which makes it difficult to argue that location is the root cause of the problem.
@OP I’m remote FTE managing a team. I put in 50 plus a week and my team does too. We worked hard in the office and then remote. The slackers and I’ve had a few, slacked in the office and ki-led the day without getting a lot done. It’s not the hard workers. Leadership built a palace for themselves in Flakes. You can’t even get a coffee at 7:00am because Starbucks is not open yet. Feels entitled in NJ not a factory with a purpose.
@f8 No one is saying remote work is THE issue. There are several issues and I totally agree with the others mentioned. The abuse of remote work is an indication of the culture. BD has a lot of people who don't value their jobs. I remember some actually complaining during covid that they discontinued summer hours! Really? You’re working from home full time and whining you can’t end your week at noon on Friday? These were often the same ones now saying it’s too hard to get their kids to school and then go to an office. The company has a large portion of lazy underperformers.
Come on people - you think remote work is the issue? Look I get it if you feel you are not getting the benefit but are you seriously thinking that badge swipe monitoring and micro management is the issue? Please - the problems at BD are much deeper than that and no amount of onsite attendance is going to fix them. The wrong people are in most jobs, the vision doesn't line up with reality and the propensity to outsource key functions and think it was worth the head count cuts are what is wrong, among many other things. Stop whining about remote workers. Start wondering why no one knows how to do their jobs, not where they do it from.
@en absolutely true! And their managers would know that if they were in the same office building. Their managers should be monitoring their badge swipes as well
@ej plenty of people i know that roll into the office every day at 10am and leave at 330pm while spending half of the day chatting instead of working. i understand the frustration with the remote employees and their performance but it does go both ways
@ee some of the remote workers don’t even have adequate internet to work. It’s always buffering or going down or slow and they barely do anything while the ones in the office do their own work and the work of the remote employees.
The examples are many. I know people who are supposed to come in and simply don’t want to because they have to get their kids to school in the morning and “it’s hard”. I know people who moved to far away places during covid, never told anyone because I guess they thought covid was forever, and now are allowed to just stay remote because the manager likes them. I know people who live within 15 minutes of the office and are allowed to stay remote and some who commute 2 hrs one way because the manager wants then in the office to write their emails and sit on Teams meetings. VPs from far away who the company hired, funded their relocation, only for them to work remotely. Then there are the edge kids of course who are allowed to come and go as they please because they’re special.
I agree with all of this! Favoritism is shown outright. A team of 12 and half are allowed to work from home while other is made to go into office. Why!?? Because while in another role they got approval to move to another state without a site. And then because they were terrible in that role, got moved to another job and then another job all the while keeping this remote status AND being a sh!tty employee. For the love of god, fire them already!!!!
@b4 especially the PI folks in Tempe office and MMS San Diego and infusion.. their LinkedIn profiles are so active with anything but work related activities. I don’t know when they work they’re too busy living their life hence why consent decree and warming letter in mms is their middle name .. get rid of them already they su-k bad
@ax except bd hired people all
Over the place and then want everyone back in the office. They already sc--wed it up when the hiring strategy was to hire all over the place. managers don’t even come to the office yet their direct reports are in the office which is the stupidest thing ever. Manager stays home or is in another state yet they make the person who reports to them go into an office and sit by themselves and they have no one else on their team. Bd culture is just
Toxic , no consistency no accountability I do what is right and come in and make my team come in but I see other managers don’t come in .. their people sitting there with no supervisor or support or better yet other teams just come and go as they please .. bd is not innovative asking everyone to come back is such old school mentality NOTHING HAS CHANGED in fact it only got worse.. weak leadership, BS initiatives like business excellence, no innovation, tanking stock, toxic culture, did I say weak leaders?? Not only weak but arrogant , rude, don’t respond to emails, the complete opposite of what the BS HR courses teach ..
Lots of people here view “work” at BD as a mere disruption in their personal lives. If you have a kid, BD lets you work at your leisure and convenience. The abuse is rampant. It’s a complete joke. So many would be fired with another company.
Bring it on. I’ll happily leave. This company needs to get rid of the slow d-mba$$ employees who can’t find their way home but instead keeps them while they fiddle fa-t around all day. EVERYONE and I mean everyone, needs to return to office and every employee needs to be in the same bldg with their supervisor/manager. So they can monitor the coming and goings of their direct reports. I’m fed up with the bull$hit I see day in and day out.
When will they pay off the useless business excellence positions? Can’t wait for ticking time bo-b to implode.. @OP