#officeculture

What did everyone get? I department got Donuts and coffee.

Not sure what the big deal was about me edging during a team meeting?

When are the buildings going to reopen? I kinda miss office experience

We Put People First
It's the companies time to make employees feel valued for their efforts! Workers are foundational to corporate success, so it's important to make them feel empowered and valued.

We Power Potential
Unfortunately all the toilets exploded in the Englewood Office while scheduled repairs were being done, and let me say the smell was nefarious and permeated the entire office.

We Value Diversity
At the water cooler, the horrible smell was all people were discussing. This is much different than normal mutual agreement of how much time and energy is wasted sitting in traffic . With these new conversations about the smell of human waste, I have some new business solutions. Truly water cooler conversations are critical to business success, and I'm frankly surprised we even schedule meetings anymore when we all know without the water cooler, we could not succeed.

We Do the Right Thing
I can think of no better irony or metaphor to USBs RTO approach. Employees are forced drive to work, with skyrocketing gas prices, during dangerous protests, and in in climate weather - all to take remote meetings in a a noisy distracting environment, that smells like human waste.

We Value Diversity
But that's just the smell of collaboration! And an accurate reflection on how much the company values the contributions and work that actually builds the company.

We Stay a Step Ahead
Sure the bathroom maintenance could have been done the previous weekend or after business hours, but how could we smell our own success if we did it while people weren't there to enjoy it.

After 15 years of time at State Farm, 3 CEOs, COVID, work from home, hybrid, and whatever comes next - I can safely say that this company is absolutely sc--wed. I dunno who in the chain: Farney, some random VP, or that consulting firm they hired last year thought it was a good idea to push us back to office more frequently - but at least be honest when you give us the reason. It’s micromanagement. Pure and simple. Don’t tell us it’s ‘collaboration’ because if that was truly the case they’d open operation centers again and push the former ops center employees into office.

I thought when Tipsord retired, we could go back to what we had under Ed Rust Jr. A State Farm where you were treated well, trained better, and could build a future towards a good retirement. Boy - did that not happen.

Farney has made it clear he portrays one heck of a down to earth boss but the truth is closer to a Hallmark movie villain. June 1 (in the middle of summer) parents and grandparents have to find people to watch their kids. And the company’s response ‘we got you a totally sweet discount - go check out this page in the intranet’. On top of that let’s talk about the costs of coming into the office. Virtual employees don’t pay for gas, don’t have to pay to go to work, don’t have to waste time commuting - but sc--w the rest of us. Worst career decision I ever made was leaving the ops center for a HUB for opportunity that never happened.

I genuinely hope Progressive pulls away, Geico passes us, and honestly Allstate (because they do 100% virtual). Maybe Bloomington will pull their head from the advertising backside and listen to employees again. Knowing this regime they’d pay a consulting firm who hires Arnold Schwarzenegger (at our expense) to tell them to be a good NAY-BUH to tell them we don’t like it - only to make us come in more.

If you can't pause your sniffling long enough to stay something, or mute your mic fast enough so that everyone else on the call doesn't have to hear it. Seriously, offload that responsibility until you are no longer forcing the entire call to hear you sniff every 10 seconds.

How are folks in the woodlands?

Denver?

Calgary?

A lot of quiet quitters and underperformers on this forum

Once we move out of here and into the new Plano HQ we will truly miss what we had down here in the heart of historic downtown. It was a very cool place to be, lots of great restaurants, and the connections made here working over the years. When you visit the AT&T Discovery District you feel as if you have teleported back into the 1990s when people used to dress up and go to work. It feels like such a cultural and historical place. There is so much nostalgia and that makes me a little sad.

Some BLM buildings will close, everyone will work out of Corp South. It’s expected that there will be information regarding being in-office more.

Does anyone know if the new headquarters has designated safe spaces for employees to express their emotions? In my role, I frequently interact with the manufacturing team, and they can be quite abrasive. Having a safe space to cry would be incredibly helpful, as I’ve heard that the parking lot is quite far away, making my car an impractical option.

You know - increased efficiency, better outcomes. Measurable effects of increased collaboration. By how much people became more creative and better at problem solving. And of course, how much happier and healthier we are from coming into the office and being around other people.

I can only speak for myself. My life has improved immensely. I'm positively cheerful. I get excited every time I pull into a gas station to tank up. I've made so many new friends! Doesn't matter that none of them are on my team. I barely see my family anymore, but socializing in the office is a fair tradeoff. And where else would I find time to listen to my favorite podcasts if not during my hour-plus commute? So many improvements!

2.5 to 3 hours commuting daily, gas through the roof, plus all the other office expenses. I feel like an id--t for doing this. If RTO actually made sense, maybe I'd feel less bitter. But it's pointless. Counter-productive even. All the corporate spin has been hollow. Showing up feels like getting played.

This only applies to the Maryland offices because I have no clue what’s happening at other locations. I’ve been informed that they are tracking badging in Owings Mills and “collecting the data for who comes in their 2 days a week and who doesn’t”, at least for tech. I know most associates are in 4 days a week, especially at HP, but does anyone think they’ll mandate tech come in 4 days a week this year?

If you got whacked we told you so

Can we discuss the peculiar behavior of people in the office? What’s the deal with this numb, personalityless, smart-a-s, arrogant new type of behavior? I find many people in the office absolutely cringe-worthy. While some are quite normal, a significant number are simply bizarre. It’s like observing a child with Asperger’s syndrome in the office. Have people lost their personalities? If you can sit at a desk and make snarky comments while appearing completely serious about them, yet make no effort to connect with your coworkers, what exactly are you doing in the office? It seems like these individuals could be outsourced in a heartbeat, as we clearly don’t require their interpersonal, softer skills or collaboration. Is everyone so risk-averse that they can’t exhibit a bit of common sense? I may not be an outgoing personality and I tend to keep to myself most of the time, but for the love of all that’s holy, there’s something seriously wrong with you if you can go to a place with a thousand other people, say nothing to anyone, sit at your desk for eight hours, only getting up to use the restroom or have lunch. No one even smiles in the hallway anymore.

There is no way RTO is being enforced equally. The only people who are being forced to come in are the people on the phones. I walk the floors

A TV has been installed on each floor of my garage that shows me a lot of squiggly lines that are meant to convey something or other. We're either the best garage ever, the worst, or we're somewhere in the middle - I'm not sure.
More well-spent money to keep these bean counters, who can't even convert data into an understandable format, on our payroll while gutting essentials. [insert-eye-roll-emoji-here] But, it is a great apple-to-oranges comparison of dissimilar areas that pose their own unique, incomparable challenges.

•••
On behalf of the great T, she welcomes your accolades. At present, Dolce and Cabana’s “Who cares about my workers’ collection is debuting. The great T purchased another form fitting belt for $18k, to honor Women’s month. HR is currently explaining 3 days a week is actually not 4 days a quarter. Where is our CEO??

Has anyone heard anything lately on if/when they are going to push for us to return to office again

Told me I could take the day off
:)

Nothing has changed except headcount.
A little lower, still much more headroom to cut. Applications causing slowness in employee work (see AGS). Many office employees provide little to no value. Same old RTO complaints now have evolved to badging in and going home shortly after with no HR ability to counter. No corporate AI strategy as of March 2026, No PQ strategy as of March 2026 how is that possible? People that are not capable of keeping up with any communication methods yet they remain employed here. This place is a zoo at this moment in time.

I'm tired of pretending to be okay all day but also can't unload on someone just trying to be polite. The question just forces you to either lie or be the person who always seems in a bad mood. I'd rather just skip the small talk and work.

EH YOU ARE KI-LING US WITH DRIVING TO THE OFFICE FOR CR-PPY FOOD AND ANNOYING &LOSER LEADERS. WANT TO BOOST ENERGY, LET US WFH UNTIL GAS IS UNDER $3

Lay low don’t attach any undo attention to yourself.
Do not trust or talk to coworkers.
Under no circumstances should you help coworkers. Those that struggle stand out and will end up layoff candidate.
When its survival mode, it’s either sink or swim.

Three meetings so far today. Every single one, people staring at screens or out the window. Nobody wants to be there. Nobody is paying attention but looks like nobody cares either. What's the point??

It has been a year since the RTO policy and the divide it has created is hard to ignore. Those of us working remote or choosing offices closer to home often feel excluded from decisions, meetings, and the informal networks that keep work flowing. It is isolating and the pressure to play the game just to be seen is real.

Meanwhile, many in-office employees are not thriving either. Badging in, headphones on, fake smiles, people are disconnected, isolated, and going through the motions. There is no real connection and the culture has become draining, even toxic, taking a toll on mental and physical health.

The truth is clear. RTO has not solved productivity or engagement. It has highlighted a disconnect, a tension, and a struggle on both sides. Anyone else experiencing this? How are you navigating it?

https://www.thehill.com/opinion/technology/5775420-remote-first-productivity-growth/

Why would a company that makes money from supplying computers to home workers mandate a policy that returns all worker to return to the office a minimum of 3 days a week?

You would think that, as a computer company, HP would encourage remote working to be an example for other companies to take note on how they can have remote employees too. HP would then continue to have a sales bo-m (like they did in 2020) on laptops to supply workers.

Bottom line, HP wants to justify having large useless buildings by filling them up again with employees.

For those of you who have been mandated to return to the office 4 days a week are you complying? Has anyone heard of what consequences we face if we don't comply?

We all know that RTO was a completely political kissarse move and not a decision based on any facts but I am completely over it!
I'm in the office more days now than before COVID except now I don't even have my own assigned desk. We promote homeownership and affordability but treat employees like we are vagrants having to pack up our entire work life and take it home everyday and then hope we get a desk tomorrow. One that isn't covered in food crumbs from the person yesterday because they aren't cleaning these desks and the desk wipes are out more often than not!
Now that Trump had destroyed gas prices, between the cost of tolls, gas prices rising, the constant fear of layoffs, and hours in traffic, I'm being pushed way past my limit. I'm naturally a high performer but that's about to change. Being asked to do more work with less resources, all while being forced to come into an office just to sit on Teams Meetings all day is the d-mbest thing Pulte has done to date.
And, unfortunately, it's an employers market, so he can get away with it. #burnout #FDT

It's all meetings about meetings and reports about reports. It slows everything down. Not that anybody among leadership cares, mind you. It's just the new way of doing things.

I sit in my car at lunch just to have five minutes where no one talks to me.

"The call is coming from inside the house" is a famous horror movie trope and urban legend, most notably from the 1979 film When a Stranger Calls. It refers to a terrifying scenario where a person, receives threatening phone calls, only to discover the stalker is already inside with them. Reminds me of Citi...

Supported you? Managed thoughtfully? Tried to understand people's strengths and assign work accordingly? Do they even fully understand what your team does?

Mine might as well be from another planet. Great at office politics, useless at the actual work, and convinced that passive-aggressive behavior equals authority. I don't think anyone would notice, or work would suffer, if they were gone tomorrow.

Anyone see the “ATT is He-l” written in sharpie. Cracks me up every time I see it. Also those godda-n elevators are so slow

https://youtube.com/shorts/zidJDw00ZYo

YOU!

PSA to all the olds who must come in and cough and sneeze in our faces. I know yinz gotta make your days but take a sick day like wtf. Can’t go more than 2 minutes without one of you hacking a lung. Die quieter, thank you for your time

So I was previously located in another area of campus in a flexible seating space. Over a short period of time all of the flexible seating became assigned seating and neighborhood pods. Of course those neighborhood pods and assigned seats were the preferred seat seating near windows, quiet spaces, etc. and the only options left were in the noisy busy parts of the floor..

Our group just moved to building 600 pod C and it’s happening again.. seriously don’t understand the purpose of flexible seating if teams are going to start going through the process of making assigned seats. It’s so obnoxious to get stuck with the creepiest seating options just because I’m an individual contributor and not in the position to throw a trantrum to secure the preferred seats. So here I am once again being faced with having to sit next to the door where everyone enters and exits all day long. This whole thing is so obnoxious and ridiculous… even comical to some degree.

Looks so silent as I start my day. Anything going on guys?