Do you know anyone who actually followed through on their threats to quit over it? I personally don’t, but I wonder if even a small bump in attrition happened because of it, or if most of us just decided to go along with it.
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I did. If I have to go in I needed more money so I left for more money.
@vz It's worse than that because the JC people are also paid much more than the rest of the company (due to the "high cost of living") and have much higher ABOs because they inherited the TDA ones.
If most people could see the numbers they'd be outraged.
People in Austin and other cities are driving for about an hour each way to office. How is it fair that the New Jersey folks get a free pass? Why are they not asked to commute to NY office?
I don’t know how many did, but WFH was working well and promised to stay. The reasons for RTO didn’t hold up to any scrutiny. I left because of it.
If they were upfront, even while walking back promises, I might have seen it less negatively.
@ft i had heard the JC people were given the option to go into the office or get a permanent desk. i can not imagine many if any took that option. i'm not sure what will happen with the new building though
I did! I resigned right before RTO in Jan 2024.
I don't know anyone personally but I know first hand that Schwab won't do nothing if you don't come back to the office. My manager actally confirmed that. He told me to just not come in. So I haven't been to the office in five years. If you don't like RTO then just don't RTO
I'm curious about the New Jersey situation too. Do they get a pass with regard to RTO?
I know about 4-5 folks who left in STS Teams and went to Ebay, SalesForce, Intuit, SAP and Amazon. They were all very good programmers not sure if it was RTO but they all got more $ and better benefits. I am leaving soon too. Not an issue with RTO I've been here 5 years and seen everything and to be honest the work in STS is pretty boring. It is just rinse and repeat work with little to no real problem solving.
I know two people who quit, both because the commute would not allow them to get their child(ren) from school. I wish they had not, they were good folks.
I am WFH medically exempt but I talked to my specialist about viable options about how I can manage my health condition in person. I genuinely don’t care about an inconvenience towards myself but it will inconvenience my colleagues and I do feel bad for this. Still, I prefer to have these challenges knowing I have a job than to be put at the top of a list for potential layoffs. I feel afraid because either I get judged by others that I work from home or I will probably get judged for being an inconvenience to others in person.
I'm not sure about the New Jersey employees, but there are a lot of them, and as far as I know there is no NJ office, and the commute to the NYC office would be burdensome, along with having some tax implications for employees. Knowing whether New Jersey is allowed to work from home or not would make a great basis upon which to argue about the fairness of RTO for other employees in other parts of the country.
Not letting them off the hook so easy, taking sabbatical first!
Are the Jersey folks RTO?
There are cycles in which employees have more power and cycles in which employers do. Covid was definitely employees in the lead. Unfortunately, employees did nothing to cement this power, and went along with the “just one day, just two days, just three days” and promises from CEOs to keep “flexibility.” The time for employees to take a stand has now past, the labor market is abysmal and people are now happy to have a paycheck. It will only get worse. People who worked during and in the aftermath of 2008 remember how little rights employees had, even if things were illegal for instance, you kept your mouth shut because you were happy to have a job (this is not Schwab specific, just how things are.)
Employees should remember this clearly during the next cycle, which could be decades away. Do not trust what the company tells you and promises you when you have the power. Remember how they treated you when you did not.
For now, very few people will leave and it would behoove everyone to keep your head down and play by the rules. I’ve heard a lot more gossip around the office from the top (reputation wise) in the office putting others down for not bending over. That’s a sign of what’s to come, they won’t do that unless they’re feeling insecure themselves.
Hate to say it, but expect things to get worse. Expect fellow employees to see you as competition. Expect leadership to keep piling things on because they know you’re desperate. Expect five days in the office eventually. The writing is on the wall. Best of luck to everyone out there, not a fun time for employees, and will be marked shift for those who were hired after 2016 or so and have only known relative prosperity and power weighted towards the employees.
Don't know anyone who quit over it, just people who don't abide by it.