Well, I think I need to leave the #office. I need to use a #VPN to collect more data. The office network blocks VPNs. Inwas asked to have this data available today.

Being in the office is so counter to getting things done.

Sigh.

#ReturnToOffice #RTO

In the office early. Listening to someone's phone conversation, I heard a lady say her child has #COVID, but she can't take off from work right now, so her child has to go to school. I wasn't close to her, but upon hearing that, I left and went to my room that most others don't have access to. The office is doing a social gathering this week. I am not going.

#rto #ReturnToOffice

So #Grindr staff chose to #unionize, and company leaders enforced #ReturnToOffice as *retaliation*. Company leaders know #RTO sucks, and they are using it punitively.

They started enforcing #RTO of two days a week, and HALF THEIR STAFF RESIGNED.

The response of the CEO is hilarious. “The team will be smaller than where we were before and where we want to be…So that’ll obviously impact margin in a positive way in the near term.”

That’s like saying “The bad news is I lost my entire left leg. The good news is that I finally got my weight under 160 pounds.”

#unionize #unionStrong #solidarity

“Grindr loses nearly half its staff to strict return-to-work rule”

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-09-07/grindr-loses-nearly-half-its-staff-to-strict-return-to-work-rule

Ha ha ha

#returnToOffice #RTO #remoteWork #flexibleWork

https://www.tiktok.com/@techroastshow/video/7272945314699545899

The Zoom CEO is not really CEOing these days is he? 👀👀👀

#CapCut #Zoom #Productivity #ReturnToOffice #RTO #RemoteWork #CareerTok #CorporateAmerica #RealEstate #WorkTok #ThinkDifferently #KOTruths

I’m trying really hard not to go Full Conspiracy Theory on why major corporations are going #ReturnToOffice #RTO despite the widespread unpopularity of this policy among their management and workers, but the whole “RTO must happen to prevent a collapse of commercial real estate” angle is becoming more and more believable.

This FB comment is from someone who has a long career in nonprofit and governmental work, and currently works for a city government agency in #SanFrancisco #sfba. They seem convinced that SF’s mayor is pushing to get workers back in the SF to save her donors’ investments from collapse.

There was and continues to be plenty of data. Even if you believe the stat that remote workers are 10-20% less efficient (and I don't believe it), many workers regard that working from home is easily worth 10‐20% in terms of compensation‐‐ so the company essentially breaks even, in the worst case scenario, if they can take advantage of it.

But, apparently, hiring managers would rather read bogus articles in The Economist and op‐eds from billionaires than review the basic facts.

#wfh #ReturnToOffice

https://fortune.com/2023/08/14/bosses-regretting-return-to-office-mandates/?fbclid=IwAR0F9UC5aqEh_iaY3pHeMv72MUlzR_fwpfWplVKd421irhU0stb5OtR0V7A

An observation re. #ReturnToOffice: I sense that there is a *huge* disconnect even within the C-suite about #RTO in large corporations. In most BigCorps, I think the number of people in executive management who are *truly* invested in having everyone return to a daily commute can be counted on one hand.

There seems to be a pretty sharp drop-off even across the CEO, SVP, and VP levels. By the time it gets to VPs and Directors, support for #RTO is at most lukewarm (when they’re not being forced to be a public cheerleader for the ever-tightening the company policy, that is).

I think everyone can smell the bullshit. The wasted hours. The expense. The pollution. The traffic. The crappy office environment. The fact that you have to be on video call to talk to anyone anyway.

NOBODY likes this, not even senior management.

Only CEOs seem to want it. Why? I don’t actually know.

I feel like there is systematic information warfare being directed against remote working. Business managers are citing paywall articles to justify return to office policies and many of these studies these articles cite do not support the conclusions being drawn. As one example, a paywalled Economist article states:

"Teleconferencing is a pale imitation of in-the-flesh meetings: researchers at Harvard Business School, for example, concluded that “virtual water coolers”—rolled out by many companies during the pandemic—often encroached on crowded schedules with limited benefits."

But these particular "virtual water coolers" (mixing senior and junior employees together in an informal onboarding meeting) are just one single form of teleconferencing! The study says nothing about "Teleconferencing is a pale imitation of in-the-flesh meetings" that is a made up opinion invented the the article writer! Read it for yourself. Especially the study's conclusion: https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/21-125_bbb49345-38ea-4c04-9d56-4f6ef72dd7f7.pdf

Really intellectually dishonest Economist article. Sucks that crap like this is actually being cited to justify the upheaval of thousands of ppl's lives in Return to Office policies.

#WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #ReturnToOffice

Amazon is famous (or maybe infamous) for always making data driven decisions. So it's curious... and very telling... this Amazon exec admits he has no data to back up return to office policies.

Either

(1) there is no data, or

(2) there is data, but employees won't like it, so therefore Amazon won't share it. E.g. data indicating it's easier to control employees who are in office, and location dependent, and much harder for them to quit, for example.

Number (2) is the most likely scenario, in my opinion.

#amazon #wfh #ReturnToOffice

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-executive-no-data-to-support-return-to-office-mandate-2023-8

News flash that should surprise nobody: studies show that employees do not like #ReturnToOffice.

This is a down time for desk workers as it has become fashionable for large companies to shed as many employees as they possibly can. But the day will return when companies need to rehire, and the conversation around #FlexibleWork and #RemoteWork will become salient once again.

People who relocated away from expensive metro areas thanks to the pandemic lockdowns are now *commuting* in to the office for mandated RTO; they are not *relocating* back near their work. You can bet these folks are waiting for the chance to accept a remote position elsewhere when the market picks up.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/now-finding-damaging-results-mandated-095555463.html

For all the #CEOs who need people to be in the office in order to feed their egos and feel valued as a leader: You might want to rethink #returntooffice mandates.

https://apple.news/ADZf580TxRkau2TFhnZbCRQ

I love #ReturnToOffice mandates because there's nothing quite as entertaining as watching a colleague's necktie dangle over the paper shredder.

You really can't get that kind of entertainment anywhere else.

The people who claim "return-to-office is inevitable" don't have numbers on their side. In fact, hybrid and remote jobs are on a steady rise. #WorkFromAnywhere #RemoteWork #ReturnToOffice https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/17/remote-and-hybrid-jobs-are-making-a-comeback-heres-why.html

Now The Hill is piling on, doing the bidding of corporate bosses, getting corporate office workers to pretend that Return to Office is for their own own good instead of realizing what it really is: a panopticon for complete surveillance and control. RTO'd office workers will be lab rats training the next generation of AI models that
very likely will eventually replace them, and they will like it. Because, like, blood clots or something.

Funny how all the alleged health effects of working from home are actually the health affects of too much working. But nobody gonna propose cutting hours per week, will they?

#RemoteWork #ReturnToOffice #AI

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/4076569-remote-work-poses-risks-to-physical-health/

Amazon responds to walkout plan: ‘We respect our employees’ rights to express their opinions’ - Foot traffic around Amazon’s headquarters campus in Seattle in early May after the compa... - https://www.geekwire.com/2023/amazon-responds-to-walkout-plan-we-respect-our-employees-rights-to-express-their-opinions/ #returntooffice #protest #amazon

My current employer started #ReturnToOffice today and it’s giving me a ton of anxiety. I quit the last place in large part because of #RTO and I’d rather not have to do it again.

It's not just Millennials and Gen Z who want #RemoteWork - here's a Boomer who was making 6 figures, but when his boss demanded a #ReturnToOffice, he retired instead.

And found a new fully-remote job, and is now making even more money (total) than before.

"The more choice we have, the more autonomy we have, I think, the happier we are," he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/a-baby-boomer-who-quit-his-6-figure-job-rather-than-return-to-the-office-says-managers-are-threatened-by-remote-work-and-just-want-people-back-so-they-can-see-them-working/ar-AA19V3vh

Insulting and infantilizing.

“Apple further cracks down on remote work by ‘tracking employee attendance’ via badges”

It’s pretty clear that #Apple (and other tech corpos) are using the struggle between #ReturnToOffice and #RemoteWork as a way to reduce headcount. Despite Apple having delivered amazing products and features through the lockdown years, they are seemingly dead set on using #RTO as a wedge issue to get rid of those who will not commute.

Never mind where you stand on #RTO (I’m 100% team #Remote). This is an aggressive and cynical practice, one that generates ill-will, especially from those who need a paycheck, but now have to relocate and/or spend hours of their day commuting, despite having realized they were just as effective working remotely for the past three years.

In any case, it’s a good way for corpos to make sure their best and brightest take their skills elsewhere when the job market improves.

https://9to5mac.com/2023/03/22/apple-remote-work-policies-monitoring/

Even though the data shows that #remote and #HybridWork boost #productivity and the bottom line, some #TechCompanies are now mandating a #ReturnToOffice (#RTO). In this post, Melody Brue dives into what's driving these mandates, and into the concerns about #ProximityBias in the #workplace.

#HRpolicies #EmployeeEngagement #EmployeeRetention via @Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2023/02/22/amazon-and-other-tech-companies-return-to-office-orders-renew-fears-of-proximity-bias/