Email from CK confirms 3 day return to office, many I know don't have option to do this so will need to leave - SAP know this and it's one of the reasons they're doing it. Questions asked during all-hands were mostly ignored-focusing instead on the board excitement about yet another restructure. Question about further outright layoffs was also not answered either way.
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The corporate strategy is clear. First eliminate the WFH and incur a lot of hostilities among the employees.
Next implement a RIF taking out a number of employees.
Result = those who are left, will be happy they still have a job and not complain about RTO.
Pretty Simple.
Am I going backwards here?
My team was doing WFH since the early 2000"s. So now this means that the work practices which have been in place for 20+ years are now out the window?
Really?
I agree with the other comments, this will not be fairly applied to everyone. Teams will come up with excuses, rationale, etc. as to why they will be working out of the office ( they will be clever enough not to directly say their team members are WFH).
In other cases the managers are 6 or 9 hours time difference from their teams and will not have a clue as to who is in the office or not.
On top is that many teams lost their designated office space once Covid came in and so there is no longer a "known" area from which they will be working from in
I see a total cluster starting. Typical SAP, throw something against the wall with no details as to how it will work, how it well be applied and how it will be enforced.... but it sounds good for those that needed this directive.
Was told that RTO policies were designed and being implemented by that Tracey lady.
I think this is all part of the plan to get these painful items out of the way before Renjen takes over in May.
In a month or two, next will be coming a RIF. Renjen wants to start his term on a clean slate so he doesn't have any unpleasant issues to contend with that could get him off to a very bad start.
Will be a rough couple of months ahead.
I can absolutely guarantee, this will not apply to everybody fairly. In my 20 years with the company, my experience is no sooner is some policy released than everybody is planning a loophole.
100% this will be a morale ki-ler once we see some people will find ways to continue to work from home and others have to RTO.
https://news.sap.com/2021/06/pledge-to-flex-future-of-work-at-sap/
So much for the pledge that was made.
Doesn't speak well about sincerity or honesty and will seriously dampen any future commitments which we are told. In the new SAP, words mean nothing.
I have a couple of team members who went and bought houses in locations which are not commutable to an SAP location.
This was done on the basis of the SAP mantra of "work from anywhere" - was a pledge SAP made to everyone.
Do people who bought homes from where they cannot commute get some consideration, other than the front door?
To prevent certain managers from not applying this to their teams ( maybe to attempt to be a nice guy and build up their scoring metrics for the next employee survey) - Leaders in each office location should be asked how this will be applied 100% across the entire location.
This was to be expected, no way SAP was going to leave the office space we have ( some of the most expensive in each geography ) pretty much vacant.
What I want to know is how will this be enforced?? Many, many teams are remotely managed where the managers are not only not in the specific office but they are also on time zones that are significantly different from the team members they manage.
I fear this will wind up being applied to some teams and others will find a way to get around this - this is problem in the making.
The communication was clear - there are no exceptions to the new policy. It's a new SAP, this is a way to reduce the workforce without having to pay any severance package to those who are unable to return back to the office.
It's a lesson to be learned, don't believe half of what you are told by corporate leaders.
At least for Germany, you won’t find any relevant citation. In fact, the FAQ clearly states that if you are too far from your designated office, you may ask for reassignment to a closer office but no single mention of any excuses.
There is vague information about an exemption process but at the same time, there are very strong hints that the company will end the works-council agreement on mobile working from 2018.
The official reason? The usual „company spirit“, „agility“, „stronger collaboration“, „networking“ bs.
The unofficial reason? Same as everywhere: everybody is doing it, shareholders demand it and we want reduce workforce with no official layoffs. Well, when it comes to leaving a company that just betrayed every single of their employees, many might actually say „I’m in“.
"those who are not near an office may be excused" not correct, official policy states no exceptions for long commutes
"those who are not near an office may be excused" -any citation for this?
those who are not near an office may be excused