Is there any proof RTO is going to be a primary factor for layoffs?
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Yes and no. People can and do sue. It’s all about avoiding lawsuits
Yes. If you quit they pay no package. If you don’t get promoted or get a raise they save money.
@fj all valid. In the US at least, it provides air cover if someone sues. A RTO policy is about as unbiased as you can get. None of that pesky performance argument, which can be smudgy here. We're you in or not? No room for discrimination arguments. That is my guess.
I don't understand this argument. Employment is at-will. They can fire whoever they want, whenever they want to fire, for any reason or no reason. They will file the WARN act filings and execute like they do every year. As long as entire teams and groups are getting cut and performance is not cited as a reason there's no legal trouble. Why would they make up rules like RTO just to lay off people? If they don't want to pay severance, they can change severance policy too. If you're not an exec, severance policy is not a part of your employment contract.
I don’t see this being possible because it’s too hard to manage the nuances of return to office and people’s individual situations.
There’s likely a lawsuit involved if there was a blanket rule.
@b9 that makes no sense, the direct manager of the person being laid off is usually in the meeting, and may not even be in the same time zone. Or they can simply do what Oracle did: an email at 6AM announcing it is the last day for the recipient.
No, they want you in the office so they can lay you off behind closed doors instead of risking a recorded virtual meeting going viral. It’s not about collaboration. It’s about controlling the optics.
@a3 Yep, and there’s no point in leaving now either, might as well stay and get the severance.
No
Obviously- they're trying to increase voluntary attrition because it's cheaper than paying severance. The problem is they're in Philadelphia, not San Francisco, so the talent pool is smaller. As a result they're going to lose talent with no path to replacing them, while keeping the people who let this company get into the position it is in.