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;
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OP here. For those keeping score at home, I was offered the job but decided to decline.
@b6
I have spent a ton of vacation time waiting on contractors coming to my house..... home warranty processes su-k.
it's bullsh-t that we can't WFH.
You are getting super lucky to be getting away with it.
"8 times out of 10, this is due to user error."
I would like to see the stats on that statement. That is not at all what I have experienced. Most of the time it is system error vs user error. The system is set up to short your hours because they do not always ping your computer right before you log off.
"There is NO flexibility at all whatsoever."
Not exactly true. There is flexibility when it benefits the company, i.e. work from home because the weather has shut down the campus like it did this past week.
Its enforced, but my org lets us work remotely occasionally for valid reasons like Doc appointments, contractors coming to the house, etc. Just update moose and nobody has ever said a thing.
@a9 you think this is flexibility? LOL
As a new hire, you would be held to the standaed rule of 5x8 or terminate. AT&T is no longer looking for PR employees.
This is not fiction. I know a close colleague - single father - who was averaging 3-4 hours per day who was terminated. True he was well below 8 hours but trying to manage drop-off and pick-up at around an ATL commute. Can’t speak to my situation but had minimal offenses that were called out - I chose to leave.
FWIW - being in an office, I get it (even though I was fully remote for 14 years) But spending upwards of 30 minutes walking around the floor playing musical chairs only to sit at bench style seating feet apart from my co-workers. Miserable.
“don’t forget to mention the report is totally inaccurate and usually shorts you by 30 min to 2 hours per day, purposefully.”
8 times out of 10, this is due to user error.
Ge-z. You should at least get an hour in the exercise yard.
It’s is indeed policed.
It is policed via inaccurate reporting, that will short change your time spent in office and sometime not even show you were in office, when you in fact were.
Proceed with caution.
Plan on relocating to within 10 mins of your designated location and rent, don't buy because they WILL move you for no reason regularly. Count on never being able to work remotely, because the majority of groups are treated this way. Also make sure you are comfortable working in tight quarters shoulder-to shoulder with noisy neighbors and no cubicle walls or privacy. Every card swipe, every logon and every mouse click is tracked and factors into your evaluation. If you are good with all that, welcome aboard!
It isn't in my field org. We simply update MOOSE on days we're telecommuting and go about our business.
Our telecommute days are not straight WFH days, but days with Dr. appointments, kid stuff, car service, contractors in home... that kind of thing.
@a5 reading this is so sad but so true when you put it in perspective… don’t forget to mention the report is totally inaccurate and usually shorts you by 30 min to 2 hours per day, purposefully.
Stankey treats everyone as if they’re his prisoners. Leading with fear. Look up the email he sent to the employees on 8/1/25 as a result of the very negative employee survey results he received, then look elsewhere.
It is unless you’re designated virtual, yes.
The RTO policy is a sweeping 5 day RTO policy impacting all teams in all US geographies. So in short, yes. It’s 5 days for everyone every week, even those who were fully virtual or only 1-2 days per week before COVID. And yes it’s enforced, very strict.
They track badge swipes in, record the time, then ping your laptop every hour paired with COU geofencing to make sure you are actually in the office. They will record the time you leave the office via badge swipe out or no ping. This data is collected in a BI report that is shared with you and your management chain weekly. If you are consistently under 8 hours you will be reprimanded. Anyone consistently under 6 hours is terminated now that they’ve tied it to the COBC. Yes, people have been terminated because of data in this report.
If you aren’t using a vacation day then you must be in the office or you’ll need to explain to your leadership why you weren’t.
It’s archaic but very real and very strict. There is NO flexibility at all whatsoever. The whole point of this policy is to make employees lives miserable and force attrition without severance via self termination (quitting).
I would not accept a job here unless you’re fine being treated like a maximum security prisoner. Undoubtedly some doofus with Stockholm syndrome will try and say it’s not that bad, but trust me. It is that bad. Oh and by the way, there’s no assigned seats so have fun scrambling around each day and fighting for a spot to sit. This is because offices only have capacity for 70% of the employee base assigned to each office. I’d really look elsewhere.
Yes it is.