Thread regarding Ford layoffs

Unpopular opinion: Work from home IS less productive

I worked from home 100% for over 4 years. I got a lot done, and surely even outperformed many on-site people. Even got top achiever over on-site people one year.

That being said, returning to office has forced my output to probably triple over WFH years.

My job can easily be done remotely, but being in office introduces almost daily instances where I get pulled in to solve issues outside my normal day to day "expected" duties.

I already knew I wasn't going above and beyond most years at home, I was doing just enough so my boss never even had to watch my work output.

Being on-site my boss now questions if I'm going to burn out from everything I'm always getting pulled into/voluntarily taking on.

The looming layoff threat is surely an additional motivator over "quiet quitting" years, but Elon was speaking facts about WFH just not being the same.

**I'm sure there's some who have a role where they stare at a screen all day and feel it makes zero difference to RTO, but you would really have to be working in a silo if you haven't taken on any extra work with RTO.


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| 2449 views | | 27 replies (last October 1) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1k62xm368

27 replies (most recent on top)

Hey, hey, HR found a busy body to whack off to his own ego.

That’s gotta make ya feel better to work for Ford!

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Post ID: @zb+1k62xm368

RTO is about trying to trim the workforce without paying unemployment and severance.

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Post ID: @t4+1k62xm368

@gf Spend some time with our colleagues in Canada. They'll tell you how great national health care is.

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Post ID: @k5+1k62xm368

@ht Not all supervisors think or worry about that if their friend is the one extracting from your work and putting their name on it. They plan on burning you out, that's why when you go to them for protection, you get called arrogant and are told that their friend is senior to them. When one manager targets you, the machine closes ranks. HR, skip-levels, even peers will play along. Not because they all agree, but because crossing the system is su----e.

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Post ID: @hv+1k62xm368

It sounds like you like firefighting. Work is boring without a stream of problems, both real and imagined, coming in. But, for most jobs firefighting isn’t efficient, it creates activity but not productivity. It is better to stay on task, do it right, get it done on time, on budget, to specs, etc., even though it takes discipline. Your supervisor is right to worry about burnout, if you do get burned out you may become more burden to your team.

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Post ID: @ht+1k62xm368

@e2 What a weird final paragraph, I'd point you to the other 30+ westernized nations with some form of national health care as 30+ counter examples.

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Post ID: @gf+1k62xm368

@e2

People on the same team could be in the same room yet spend all of their time with their heads buried in their computers.

So I can’t concede that point.

But I agree with the rest of what you said.

To me these points demonstrate that RTO has little to do with collaboration and productivity, and the whole management fad of it is to further some other agenda.

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Post ID: @g7+1k62xm368

@f6 global team means youre the only one in michigan with everyone else in cali, toronto, ottawa etc.

great, go in person to meet on teams, like what

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Post ID: @g3+1k62xm368

My boss, his boss, and his boss are all remote. Why do the people underneath them have to be in the office 4 days a week?

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Post ID: @f6+1k62xm368

@OP is just a bootlicker. @e2 is spot on. Maybe OP should actually try to go to the office instead of having wet dreams about what it must be like and then writing about it here. Also, 3x productivity is easy when your WFH productivity is so low.

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Post ID: @ev+1k62xm368

I don't think anyone would argue that the most productive environment would be having all the people who are working on a project be in the same room together. That's pretty much common sense. Nothing is more efficient than face-to-face communication and it truly enhances collaboration. I think even the WFH-for-life people would have to admit that.

However.

That's not what we have with RTO at Ford, in most cases. We still spend a lot of time in Teams meetings with people in PA, Canada, or overseas. We even have Teams meetings with people in other buildings on the Dearborn campus, because even though we're in the same org, there wasn't enough room in one building for everyone.

Yes there are times a smaller team can meet for an hour in a conference room, and those times are valuable to me. But conference rooms are limited and hard to come by for more than an hour.

Add in the chaos of no assigned seating, people having to lug their personal stuff back and forth or try to find a place to stash it overnight, poor building services, parking issues, bathrooms, airport-priced food, etc. and the end experience is pretty bad.

So like many failed experiments in the world (communism, socialism, national health care, etc.), the idea of RTO sounds great, but the execution doesn't live up to the promise.

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Post ID: @e2+1k62xm368

Working from is over. Why keep posting the same topics ? Check other companies. If you want to work from home - most likely it is temporarily to deceive you.

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Post ID: @d5+1k62xm368

Interesting. I did say unpopular opinion.

My building still has assigned desks, enough for everyone. I would be pi---d to be told RTO with no desk available.

Also, I have always happily outperformed many of my peers for a number of reasons, but I enjoy never needing my boss to tell me what to do because I'm always busy delivering useful output.

Maybe if you need your boss to lay out every keystroke on the keyboard before you push it then yeah I guess you could just sit there mouth-breathing from home waiting for your daily instructions.

I don't mind being back in the office, but I show up whatever time I want within reason. From home or in office my job is very independent and I always have things to keep me busy, so I'm not worried about going in and looking blatantly useless.

The initial 3 day RTO transition was hard to get used to for a few weeks but otherwise not a big deal and I was feeling disconnected from my employer as a WFH'er.

People ask why I'd work hard for the company, but I actually enjoy my job. If you hate your job I don't know why you're still there anyway, and you're probably exactly the kind of person they'd like to see quit over RTO anyway.

Sincerely - The guy getting your bonus.

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Post ID: @bx+1k62xm368

You know who needs you in the office?

• Bankers who lent money to CRE
• CRE landlords
• Greedy governments looking for taxes
• Oil companies selling gasoline
• Car companies selling cars
• Restaurants and shops
• Kohl’s
• Managers needing to feel powerful

You know what doesn’t need you in the office?

• The work you have to do
• The environment

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Post ID: @bm+1k62xm368

@bg

All that totally objective and unbiased data that they've openly and transparently shared? Or are we just operating on blind trust here?

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Post ID: @bk+1k62xm368

Rage bait

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Post ID: @bj+1k62xm368

The data referenced by KG, DF, and actually all the Ford executive leadership is more than proof needed to convince anyone that returning to the office is the right thing to do. Do you really want to get a final email from the company?

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Post ID: @bg+1k62xm368

You are crazy. It's definitely worse with RTO. Trying to find a space to work. And then having to move because because I need a quiet space to participate in a confidential meeting. Not to mention people stopping you to chat cause they haven't seen you in years. Not sure how you get any work done.

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Post ID: @bb+1k62xm368

@OP Feel free to provide statistics to you claims. We'll all wait. I was unfortunately part of the 2019 SRD. At my current job, I have WFH for 5 years. I get nothing but compliments from my team and manager on my performance. I am as productive as anyone on my team. I don't have the office distractions like my neighbor yelling into their phone, or nasty smelling food in the microwave, or a disgusting restroom or people walking by my work area talking loudly. I can work in peace taking breaks as necessary and completing all my daily tasks.

Sorry for the leadership in all the companies out there that believe otherwise. It doesn't matter where you work from as long as the work gets done. It's all about control.

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Post ID: @ax+1k62xm368

I can’t wait to read about Ford going back to the office five days per week. Winter 🥶 is coming. I hope it snows every day! Your tears are like honey to me.

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Post ID: @aq+1k62xm368

@OP

Why on God's green earth are you volunteering for extra work on behalf of a company that's treating its workers like garbage? You are an example of everything wrong at Ford.

Bootlicking traitor.

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Post ID: @am+1k62xm368

Just because you say something doesn’t make it true!

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Post ID: @ae+1k62xm368

As an owner of Ford, I want you all in the office and productive again. Bill listens to me.

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Post ID: @aa+1k62xm368

It sounds like you have too much time on your hands, are you bored?

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Post ID: @a9+1k62xm368

Pre-COVID, when I was in the office at my own assigned desk, most days I would not see or speak with any of the people in my team in person for days.

Everything was done through email and Webex.

Now with rent-a-desks, I don’t know where anyone is at.

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Post ID: @a8+1k62xm368

@OP... Look! Another Ford HR drone trying to justify RTO! You're not fooling anyone. In fact, from home could be the same, where people ask you questions using Webex/Teams. But I doubt that people coming to you at the office happens in real life because NOBODY knows where the other people is sitting today, and is completely different from tomorrow. Besides, if you have so much free time to help others, then you DON'T HAVE enough in your plate. Stop pretending you are a hard worker, because people that actually are don't have that much time for others, and hardly make it to TA, since TA is reserved for @ss lickers.

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Post ID: @a7+1k62xm368

@OP, Thank you for posting HR bot. Your wisdom is truly inspiring! Now, let’s all push to RTO five days a week!

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Post ID: @a4+1k62xm368

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