Thread regarding U.S. Bank layoffs

They know proximity isn't the secret ingredient. They are lying liars who lie. It's a front and an excuse they expect us to buy into because they believe we're stupid.

@b1 another remote employee here who was hired years prior to Covid. If they ever put me in a hub they will notice my productivity drop like a rock. No way I am commuting an hour away and also working over 8 hours. I do feel bad for my manager and team but they will understand.

@b4 well, ain't no one quitting without a severance and them cheap executives don't want to pay up. So here we are.

They know this, it's done to get people to quit.

@ah Consider yourself lucky (and their downvote brigading needs to stop--they have a valid point that RTO was advantageous). Me, not so much. I was hired WFH well before Covid and ended up getting assigned to a random location where my only common manager with one single person in the building was on the management committee. Let's just say there was no collaboration taking place; just another butt in a seat, which for some reason means more than actual output now.

Previously, me being remote was a what I referred to as my superpower--I logged in well over an hour before anyone was walking in the doors in our "real" office since I didn't need to prep for an office day or commute. After getting assigned my random hub location, that stopped unless it was one of my two days home--I use the time I logged on early for years to prepare for my day on my butt-in-seat days, arriving at my hub around the time the majority of my coworkers do. Therefore, if an overnight process failed, it's no longer being caught early and being taken care of ahead of their business day, This probably costs my group 1-2 hours of potentially lost productivity, but it's just the price the MC expects I guess so I can collaborate with my theoretical on-site team though, so...

@ah Totally. Both the Mo--n Committee and AP's (angry plebs) get too focused on all or nothing on this issue. The reality is it depends.

There are circumstances when working together can add a lot of value. And there are circumstances where it not only adds nothing but is in active detriment. Quality leadership would allow management to evaluate these circumstances on a case-by-case basis and get the best outcome possible.

But we don't have quality leadership.

@OP They indicate to us that it is not 2019 anymore.

@OP I hate RTO as much as you, but there are several members of my team sitting by me and I do like that. No one is chitchatting too much and we do work together some of the time. Another row over are several people that are alone, not a teammate nearby

There is no collaboration, even amongst the teams that work with each other. People are upset about the disgusting environment which leadership has no desire to address. They wanna make an impression. Why don’t you show your “brand“ and give us better working conditions. One step away from a sweat shop.

There certainly CAN be value in proximity depending on the team and workflow. But the assumption that merely sitting in the same building creates that value all on its own, or that it's always a net benefit, is incredibly reductionistic.

And certainly, deprioritizing the work over the process, especially when that process just boils down to working "remotely" from the same location, is foolishness on stilts.