they hold themselves in high praise, say they are good employees, but thats far from the truth. either they are lying to themselves or somehow trying to convince others --probably just want to collect a paycheck though. losers. karma is a b....
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So many damn management trolls on this board!!!!
Fact- ending WFH has completely destroyed the morale at this. company
There are no places to sit. I saw a woman taking a conference call in the ladies room today.
Is this how a world class company is run?
No. This is all designed to stress to the employees that your employment is TEMPORARY and they will make the conditions as c-appy as possible.
our company was founded on the ability to connect people who were not in the same place together but seems we have lost our way..sad.. and to the poster saying google does it if google jumped off a bridge would you too? theres no one right way to run a company..
1koy - you obviously then DO get why people are bent out of shape. I suppose if you live 10 mins away it’s a small inconvenience. But for me, I took my position because I could WFH, saving 3 hours per day of drive time, car wear/tear, stress, and gas money when I don’t need to associate with anyone in my closest office location. Taking it away after years is equivalent to adding a part time job to my full time job with no increase in pay, added expenses, and negative health aspects of sitting an additional 15 hours a week. You think it should just be shrugged off? It causes a dilemma for many people, it’s not just about whining that we have to go to an office.
i don't understand why ppl are bend out of shape for no longer being able to WFH.. Inconvenience?
Yes it is. Waste of time driving? Yes it is. More effective at home and quieter? Yes it is. Too many benefits to list...but too many who did abused the system so they are taken. And I also don't get why ppl are bend out of shape at AT&T when companies like GOOG, FB, AMZN, AAPL EXPECT their employees to go into the office and work daily. Not all abused it. But frankly, it was obvious ppl did based on the calls i've been on. The org i worked for demanded us to sign a "contract" that WFH does not mean child care...wow...that was definitely not strictly reinforced...and also...not all orgs demanded such contract. Maybe the company should start implementing such contract with the employees. All meeting calls are recorded anyway...it's easy to tell who are the offenders.
@srx It's not just about complaining about losing WFH, it's because JD has drawn a line in the sand about where people are forced to work in a way that is nonsensical to the majority of employees actually doing those jobs. Is there an inherent quality that makes a low-performing office-goer more desirable than a high-performing remote worker? How many jobs within AT&T really require in-person presence? If there are people who are only effective when they are physically present in an office environment and are less effective when unsupervised at home, why not address that separate issue rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater? T is preaching agility and speed, but is confining its workers to outdated work methods. Technology is a wonderful thing that allows us to effectively communicate around the world which we could be using to be a world-class workforce. Instead, we are sticking our heads in the sand and going back to the Stone Age.
I personally don’t believe a word you say.
Stx- First let me say that I am sorry that you were impacted and lost your job. My heart breaks when I hear of anyone being surplused and I have been through these numeeous times since 2007. It never gets easier. Everyone (well, most everyone) on this website is possibly facing the same fate as you and sure most do not mean to come off as entitled insemsitive or petty. It is not a matter of “if” but “when” for most of us. Until our time on the chopping block comes we should be able to express our frustrations with our current situation as we see fit. Yes, if keeping my job means I have to be in a loud germ infested and dirty office 5 days a week that is what I will do. Will I be thankful and will it be a blessing that I still have a job -most definitely. Will I be bitter that the Executives who care nothing about me are purposely making my life miserable because I wont walk away from a job I have had for 27 years? The answer is once again most definitely. I am sorry for what happened to you but don’t take it out on your ex fellow employees. We did not do this to you. So as you expect us to put ourselves in your shoes-remember had you not been let go you would be in ours. Take your anger out on those that are deserving. True, This is a site perraining to layoffs and the telecommuting topic does have to do with the layoffs so read through some of the other topics and you will see that. Best of luck to you and your family. Once again I am sorry to hear how this has impacted you and your family.
Everyone is complaining about losing WFH. WHY? I could go with at least you have a job unlike a lot of us who were surplused . Or I could ask you what makes you so enlititled ? Why doesn’t everyone stop complaining about trivial things. I am so sorry that you can’t work from home when I have to work 2 jobs just to feed my family. So how about you wake up and smell the coffee. All of us are or were on the chopping block. So before you complain about losing WFH on a lay-off site how about you think about no having a job at all. Let the trolls begin
They are just trying to make this place a miserable place to work to get people to leave. There is no more morale and they are forcing loyal employees out the door. They will be sorry as they place the ageing workforce with millennials who have no loyalty and jump at the next best offer.
tej - Exactly! My home office has windows for fresh air, to see the blue sky. Power back up, fully equipped, printer, high speed internet (on my dime of course), 2 line phone, speaker, MUTE button. I don't have to worry about body odor next to me, someone blowing their nose & leaving the disgusting napkin next to me, dirty desks/chairs/floors. An antiseptic clean environment, no background noise, no dirty foul bathrooms to worry about. No repulsive food smells or overflowing garbage cans or dirty carpets with bugs crawling. I can run to my chiropractor at lunch (3 minutes away) to relieve the constant stress I am under worrying if I will have a job or not. Need to start early or work late or pull an all nighter is not a problem. None of this will happen in any of these "locations". The last thing the management of T is concerned about is cleanliness or the well being/health of their employees. First snow storm they'll find out. Traffic & road congestion makes for many a dangerous commute, totally unnecessary.
tgd...I will take hearing an occassional dog barking in the background, wind nosies or kids screaming while on a conference call because they can always go on MUTE and only a few minutes of aggrevation on the rare occassion it happens. vs. someone sitting across from me 8 hours a day speaking as if they are in their own home on conferences calls making it impossible for anyone around them to work, coughing and sneezing and spreading germs, crunching on food, smelling nasty food etc.
So if your only complaint about working from home is a simple “interruption” during your precious conference call you are in the wrong occupation to begin with.
I think the demand that people come back to the office is admitting managers are ineffective. If a manager knew and understood what their employees were doing, they'd be able to dictate who's responsible end to wfh.
It's far easier to just treat everyone exactly the same regardless of ability & it's that kind of lowest-common-denominator attitude that has made the company the way it is today.
always fun to hear dogs barking in the background or wind nosies or kids screaming...lets face it, its been taken advantage of and needs to be contained. as usual the ones not doing anything impact those doing well. and there are a lot of "dead weight" employees at T.
A lot of moles here it seems, AM types drinking too much cool aid and never having had to do the actual work vs just create pretty powerpoints and colorful pie charts for the easily manipulated upper management with fake metrics. Why you’re on here I can only think is because you are just sad people with no lives but to screw with the real workers of the bunch. Schadenfreude is your addiction silly management turds! Wait until you lose your power hill when all your slaves are laid off... Too many fake and worthless managers and not enough workers in this company.
Nuts, @eiz you stole my thunder! You covered the bases as our OP is a WFH wanna be and would jump at the chance if offered right now, but you pretty much said it....this Gump probably asked and was refused, and refused because of their work ethic.
I’m sure all the WFH employees have deceived their bosses, over the years, so incredibly well that they skated by totally unnoticed....cut me a break!
They want me to commute, no problem.
They want me to work in a noisy, sick filled, close proximity of individuals, no problem.
They want me to give them my 40 hours, no problem.
But, now I’m commuting and will spend at least 7 hrs (minimum) driving back & forth:
They want 41 hrs....problem
They want me to work while sick....problem. To sick to drive, to sick to work, and how days out?
They want me coming in early, or staying late.....no problem, but I will institute a "hard stop" at 40 hrs
The T’s that we’re offered the privilege of the WFH opportunity were done so because they showed a proper work ethic. The ability to work the problems, get the job done in a timely fashion, working long hours with a high level of efficiency.....working from home didn’t change our work ethic.
I am no longer with the company, and could never work from home, but if AT&T does not allow those to work from home then they will lose talent. I live in silicon valley and the commute is horrible. Many commute 2 hours each way to work for jobs but are allowed to work from home a few days a week. If those companies stopped this practice then they would lose good employees. And they know it. AT&T is trying to be a high tech company by trying to use the old phone company people to run the place. They need silicon valley people to take over if AT&T is to Truly become a high tech company.
The original post is nonsense and is just more weak management jibber-jabber.
This is obviously the same troll who is always negative and lacking any logical arguments quickly resorts to calling people names.
The "collaboration" effort is because AT&T can no longer attract both new grad or experienced TOP talent. The company is hoping that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. The best of the best used to beg Bell Labs to hire them but now that kind of person is going to Wall St. or Google/FB/AMZN/MS etc.
In-person collaboration only works when there's enough talent to spread around (which is currently NOT the case). Eliminating WFH/telecommuting to bring people "together" still requires that rare special talent that comes up with the great idea. How many great ideas originated in a group setting?
Bottom line is the lack of talent along with really poor management is destroying the company from the inside out. Eliminating WFH on a company wide vs individual basis only accelerates the demise.
I get more work done when I’m at home than I do at the office. I’m a single young male with no kids. I’m looking for a company that will provide me a decent work life balance. The option to work remotely if taken away will result in me finding another employer who wants to live in the 21st century.
I'll chime in. In MT, every morning the same people are huddled together in the café, eating their breakfast for 45 minutes. 10:15, coffee time for everyone for at least 30 minutes. Bring on lunch at noon, that's at least another hour. 3pm, line up for coffee again. So tell me how being in the office guarantees anyone is REALLY working. It doesn't. It's the perception for upper management. And it's all a joke. Every person I know who telecommuted worked long hours, accessible 24/7 to their management. Those days are OVER when brought back into the cesspool of an office.
Ok. I will take the bait. You are in need of attention so I will give you some. It sounds like the people or person you know has no business working from home. Just because you have limited knowledge about something doesn’t make it a fact. OR maybe you want to work from home and it has been denied so you are bitter?? Based on your “I need some attention so I am going to say something ridiculous and uneducated” comment if you do work for AT&T It sounds as if you wouldn’t be able to handle the responsibility of telecommuting annyway. So, please continue to go into the office since that is the only environment that ensures you will actually do your job. There are plenty of self motivated people within the company who can handle the responsibility of being at home and getting their work done. I personally know and have worked with hundreds of them.
Now go troll somewhere else.