Thread regarding Paramount Global layoffs

Any updates on Phase 2 RTO for those hired as Remote?

@42v You played right into their hands. RTO was ALL about shadow layoffs. They wanted as many people as they could get to quit so they didnt have to make any tough decisions and still reach the late October "bloodbath" they announced back in September. There's NO WAY they are calling remote back in. And if they do there will be so many exceptions that the respect of those who receive exceptions (indicated by their fancy zoom backgrounds to hide where they are) will go down the drain quickly.

I was hired as a remote only employee from the very beginning during Covid and I literally live on the other side of the country. To me, changes like that should be communicated at least 6 months in advance to be able to terminate rent contract without penalties/sell your house, pick new schools for your kids, find a reasonable rent offer in a new place on Paramount's ridiculous salary (at least in my country) that wouldn't eat up 2/3 of the budget for rent only, my partner also needs to find a job in a new place, etc. These are big changes and we should be allowed the time to adjust. It's just basic respect. Ultimately, the lack of information, not even a ballpark date frustrated me to a point that I secured a new job, starting Q2. I will also have to move cities for it and it also is in-office, but at least I know when, what to expect and I can safely plan my life and my future in a new place. It's not about employees being lazy and not wanting to RTO. It's about basic respect.

@3pa do not worry, these people are so jealous that they can’t even imagine someone had ALWAYS been remote, and had their life built in a different place that they may have attachment to, families, friends etc. They are laser focused on “return” aspect of it, only thinking about people who became remote during Covid and took it upon themselves to move away. It’s projection.

@38x Um, if the company wants me to sell my house and relocate to a physical office then they need to provide me with some basic pieces of informaiton before I take the very big step of listing my home for sale and dealing with all of the other intricate issues of relocating. For one, they need to give us a location of where we are being assigned (NY, LA etc) and secondly they need to give a firm date that we are expected to relocate by. Without those two very basic pieces of information no one in their right mind is going to list their home for sale. As of right now we only have vague phase 2 information such as "You will be told in 2nd quarter". There's no way that anyone reasonably expects someone to sell their home and uproot their lives without a target location and return date firmly defined.

@38x would you sell your house for a job? Oh wait you don’t have one.

So you expect them to decide in Q2 you have to RTO and we'll give you another year so you can relocate? They told you in September. Your house should have been for sale already and reloc plans in place. Or, I hope your resume is out on the street.

I have heard end of March or sometime during Q2 (FAQs say "by" Q2 but then list the months within Q2). It's all very confusing when they will actually provide details on phase 2 RTO but if end of march is a fact, it seems like assigning remote workers a physical location to plan accordingly needs to happen months ago.. Anyone have details?

@126 they’re tracking IP. Says it right in the FAQs.

Phase 2 RTO in UK delayed to Q2 at the earliest. Due to "the difficult legal and employment rights of workers"

😁

@116 well said!

@yp pi-s off

@10k this is not about keyboard strokes you mo--n! It is about verifying that employees made it into the office. Swipe data is the most accurate m.

@116 well said!!!!😆

@OP this has nothing to do with performance. This company from now on will exist to get people to quit or fire them so these roles can be filled at 20-30% lower salary. That’s all this is.

@116 Respectfully, this post illustrates the sentiment of a portion of the workforce that feels things have involved significantly over the past five years and that they can successfully perform their job duties to the highest standards without being under the watchful eye of Big Brother.

@116 None of this has anything to do with avoiding work. Welcome to the 21st century Van Winkle. You're a relic.

This site first morphed into people crying about having to go to work. Now it’s how to scam the system and not go to work. If you guys spend a little more time working and less time how not to work you might actually be successful

You guys gotta chill. According to AI, based on examples of RTO in other companies:

High performers are explicitly handled outside the system

In practice:

• Dashboards flag outliers
• Managers are asked: “Is this person a problem?”
• For high performers, the answer is almost always no
• The system note becomes: “Known exception”
  At that point, your data stops mattering entirely.

Ironically, that means:
The more valuable you are, the less the company cares what your signals say.

@yq All keyboard use can be monitored including how many times each key is pressed.

@102 Yeah, its going to be interesting to see how judgy people (not on your team) are going to be. But everyone has different reasons why they come in later, or leave earlier. (long commutes, early zooms, vendor meetings, after hours support calls, etc etc).

I think early on yeah its going to be an issue. But as all things go, things will settle in and just be normal. Were all just hypersensitive right now with how things could be.

Either way I agree, its going to smash morale even further. But remember, this is an RTO mandate, not an 8am-6pm mandate. Paramount (media) culture is not JPMorgan (finance) or Amazon (sweatshop) culture.

@yq seating everyone by team will put anyone who leaves early on full display – people will figure it out fast. Intentional or not, that level of visibility is only going to hit morale harder when it’s already low.

@ws yes it is possible. Smart question. You can easily logon from an office and leave and they would never know.

@xh vpn has an IP and so does an office. Use your brain. They know the difference.

@wk again that’s cute the original post was accurate they are not going to fire people right away it will be a manager discussion. Nobody is scaring anyone this is the reality and I never said I agreed with it. It is what it is.

@ws Nope. Okta auth in the morning, leave by lunch. If theyre not looking at swipes they would have no idea when you are actually in the office other than when you first authenticate.

@xh Yeah but theyll know the IP where the Okta login comes from. If youre logging in from the VPN, itll come from the VPN client network, so they will know.

@wf what are “bad” swipes? Also employees can get on Okta through vpn. Task force?? I call BS on your post.

If they’re not using swipes, I’m curious if it would be possible to drive to the office, login through OKTA and then leave back home? They wouldn’t know when you’re leaving, would they?

@wf Sounds legit with okta. So how is the rto task force going to cross reference pto/fto, conferences, sick days, doc appts, business travel? Send an email to that person's Mgr to turn sc--ws on that employee? And say that employee has recently inherited the additional responsibilities and work of someone on the team who took the package or got laid off? Do you realistically think they are going to terminate that person bc they are working remote 1-2 days a week? Not a chance. You're a sheep or trying to scare everyone into compliance if you think they are going to heavy hand 5 days after the initial couple of months.

@s4 umm yea so VPN is not going to help you. When you are in an office you don’t need VPN. Whoever posted about okta is 100% correct. That is how they tracking people. I am on the RTO task force. They are not using bad swipes because not every office is connected to the same system. It’s much easier to get reporting out of okta.

@em just like everything about MAGA

@s0 This makes no sense at all. Ever hear of vpn? Uneducated much.

@s0 You get triggered easily…pathetic.

@rw wrong. They are not looking at swipes they are using OKTA to see if you login from an office. They will not “fire” you they will first have a discussion about why you are not coming in. Your manager can give you a 1 month exception and your EVP can give you a 6 month extension. Not sure why you listed a lie.

I am very concerned about the Caribbean remote workers. What will they do?

Building swipes will be monitored on January 2 through biweekly reporting. Those who do not comply will be terminated.

only control freaks want to prevent remote work

@ey Yeah, hes an id--t. Ive been working hybrid/remote for over 15-20 years. Remember 9/11? We had VPN back then too, and the work got done. Only kids think remote/hybrid started because of Covid.

@f5 what title level is your boss?