#remotework

https://www.inc.com/leila-sheridan/kevin-oleary-loves-why-his-companies-will-never-force-a-return-to-the-office/91291726

Great news, team!

After months of being told that our jobs absolutely require us to be in the office five days a week, we’ve now discovered a groundbreaking truth: remote work magically becomes possible the moment a storm named Fern shows up.

To keep things consistent with the company’s logic, I propose a simple standard:

• If we can physically get to the office: we work.
• If we can’t: that’s a company problem, not an employee problem.
• And since remote work “isn’t viable,” we obviously won’t be doing any work from home.
  After all, if flexibility only exists when it benefits the company, then employees should follow the same rule. No work from home. No exceptions. Just honoring the policy, we were told was non‑negotiable.

https://www.inc.com/leila-sheridan/kevin-oleary-loves-why-his-companies-will-never-force-a-return-to-the-office/91291726

Kevin O’Leary — a real investor with actual companies laid out why forcing people into offices is a losing strategy:
“If you’re trying to say to people, ‘Oh, you got to work in an office,’ you’ll just get the bottom quartile of people who have no choice.”

He points out that in his portfolio of 50 companies, 40% of employees stayed remote after the pandemic and that’s true across the economy.

That’s pure talent economics. If you force everyone back full time, you literally shrink the talent pool to people who can’t choose otherwise. Meanwhile the companies embracing flexibility get the best performers and stay competitive.

This is about facts not feelings. It’s about results, real hiring markets, and the fact that companies that mandate RTO are choosing the bottom quartile instead of competing for top talent. Investors and workers alike see through it.

Is there any point going to office after giving 30 day notice resignation? I'm thinking of just working from home for my 30 day notice resignation?

Remote workers, sorry, you saw a real impact. As for all the doomsayers saying no more work from home or hybrid, you were WRONG! Always bringing this up during layoffs cause you are too worried about where someone is doing their job. foh!

Was anyone from this org able to stay as a remote employee? Seems like this org’s layoffs really hit remote workers hard. Some very talented and hard working people were let go from this org.

…that with the inclement weather expected to shut down the southern half of the United States this next week, rather than doing the right thing and allowing employees on the 3/2 hybrid schedule to just work remote, if there is a building closure due to inclement weather, it does NOT count as an in-office day and employees are expected makes arrangements to fulfill their in-office requirement!

If they think so little of employees during weather (safety) related office closures, what makes you think they have your best interests at heart for anything else? This is the straw that broke the camels back to motivate me to find a new job elsewhere…anywhere! Wow, just wow!

Skilled and experienced people can find another job more easily. They'll be the first to quit, followed by many decent people who can't meet the RTO requirements. I don't condone these attrition tactics, I think they're cheap and counterproductive. But if they have such a strong urge to push people out, why not do it strategically instead of shooting themselves in the foot?

There have been strong discussions that people managers, at every level and in all locations, should lead by example by being office-based.

If you are a virtual people manager at any level, anywhere in the world, you should expect your team to be managed by an office-based leader. What that means for you, I'm sure you can guess.

Did the company communicate WFH for this week for Minnesota? In the office today and there it’s a ghost town

The RTO is a bunch of Horse_sh*t, if your team is not all in the same office.
But speaking as someone with 20+ years of experience, I learned a lot from watercooler conversations, hearing a hallway conversations or people in the next cube discussing something. New people working remotely miss out on a ton of extra learning. It's bad for them and it's bad for the company.
So, a respectful exec team would have been thoughtful about their ask.
Does it benefit you and your team if you are all together in the same office? When the answer is Yes, you should put your big boy/girl pants on and get your a-s into the office.
If you are all truly masters at what you do, you do not need to be in the office unless you are hiring young people to learn your craft and then yes, you should be in the office.
If the people being hired to eventually replace you on on a different continent; f'em.

I’ve been in the Minneapolis office and it’s so empty. Are people taking PTO or did some managers actually care and give waivers due to the extreme cold and everything happening here? Personally my manager has not even pretended to care one bit or said anything

Converse people - does anyone know the week we should be expecting reorg and layoffs and to work from home? Getting tired of waiting around.

Does anyone know if the server Lag for those working from home compared to those in the office? It's been super slow today and it started around 9am.

I've heard on good authority that there are no changes to the hybrid schedule planned

Personally, I do.

Dell has made it clear they want in office 5 days/week and has stated that all future roles are onsite ONLY - including internal movement. Remotes are not eligible for promotions, and I 100% guarentee it will cut into their bonus and merit raises, as well. Remotes will get a 50% max bonus, and a xyz max merit raise (1.5-2.5%) to force people to quit. That may not happen this year but I'm betting my bonus it will happen soon.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if that happens this year as like I said, Dell wants all employees to be local to an office and remote employment is no longer offered. What a great and sh---y way to force people to quit...

Essentially, they want everybody to be local to an office. Which is d-mb and pointless IMPO but, that's what they've made clear and in order to do that, they HAVE to begin cutting the remotes at some point.

My guess is unless you are below a sr. director, dell will help relocate you... otherwise it;'s on your own dime. aka 99% of the remotes are FUQD for relocating.

Well, unfortunately the only way to do this is by cutting the remotes. Exceptions will be made for a very small group of people but I doubt that even, as my director drives 90 minutes to the office daily, one way. overall, remotes IMPO are on the block going forward. Unless they relocate, which many won't.

All full time remote employees are being terminated by EOY by sc-mbags who put every one of us in a wfh status while keeping offices closed and sitting empty. We have been treated like we aren't employees here, segregated from everything and everyone, blocked from getting promotions and given false ratings on reviews which includes those not full time as well sc--wing all of us out of merit and jobs as well. Theres no way this is legal cause it goes beyond being “at will”. You dont have to go to these extremes in that case

I think the typical departments will get hit hard again - ISG, CSG, Sales, Engineering, and IT... but I also think Dell is going to start going after full remote employees.

Dell no longer allows remote positions (future positions that is) and all new roles/REQs MUST go to the office, meaning they want all employees to be local to an office, right? Well that won't/can't happen until all remote employees are either laid off or quit.. OR relocate on their own dime. They are going to have to start going after remotes sooner or later and I feel like it's gonna be sooner than later; after the RTO mandate. OR, they will tell remotes that they can either relocate and keep their job, or have bonus's/raises minimized + the already not eligble for promotions/internal movement.

I think a LOT of the engineers, PMs, Managers/directors who were very heavily involved in mav will be let go as well, considering the OG deadline was pushed back a quarter...

Just my guess.

Why don't they eliminate all of the satellite offices and remote employees first? There are some directors, senior directors and VPs that hide at home all the time, some that wear the same clothes days on end that are never in the office. They hide with background pictures of their office, and while their leadership knows it, leadership isn't strong enough to do anything about it. So just fire them. If you are not in one of the 3 campuses, then you should not have a job.

I am starting my training on Feb 2nd working from home as customer service specialist! I’m so happy and blessed to have found another WFH opportunity! This will be my 4th employer that I have WFH for! I hope I can build here and take my learning to even bigger heights <3

Well for those fortunate enough to keep their jobs, hearing RTO 5 days a week is coming as part of the new strategy going forward. Gone are the Friday through Monday "4 day weekends" many have been enjoying. Covid is long over...time for everyone to get back in the saddle 5 days a week.

How does the HR calculation work?
Is it considered only 4 days every week or can we do all 16 days together and get 4 days WFH in last week ?

How does it work in other locations ?

It's obviously always a possibility and I'm honestly tired of the stress every 6 fkning months.

I am not in sales, nor an org that generates money if that matters.

Historically we rarely, if ever get hit - other than sales 9/10 times - but that is one thing I do love about FED. We generate a massive amount of money considering the fact we make up a tiny fraction of the company (there are roughly 1657 FED employees. Don't quote me on that but it is between 1650-1690 total employees.) And yes, I know this for a fact.

Like I said, FED has rarely been hit by layoffs and if/when it happens it's typically the sales org for some reason... And sometimes IT - devs specifically. Overall though, for the 6 years I've been in fed I can only think of one person who has been let go, and he was a sr. softeare engineer (a developer.) IMPO, those in the fed department are harder to get rid of for a lot of reasons, and even moreso now that Dell is trying to get rid of remote.

• Can't be offshored - MUST be a US citizen and live IN the US. - This is not a Dell choice. This is a government requirement.

• As of last year, ALL new roles/positions MUST be local to a job site/office - no future remote hires anymore. Dell has slowly been closing down small satellite offices in the US so that leaves people local to the major offices; which are only a few.

• Most people are still wanting a remote or hybrid thing (and there are more than enough jobs out there who offer this) and I mean, having a 5 day onsite policy isn't exactly going to be appealing for a LOT of people.

• Background checks/vetting is more expensive for new employees and are done via US government approved BG checking services. Which are more extensive and thourough than what corporate BG checks do.

• Small af teams throughout, so one person being let go on a team can be detrimental
• A LOT of sensitive information that could be leaked by a bitter employee
• As a whole, the entire FED department is tiny as he-l and Dell tends to forget about the majority of us lol - except sales...

TLDR: it's not really beneficial to get rid of FED employees as it's significantly harder to replace them, as fed is not global and there are far less candidates to choose from. Especially now that ALL future roles/positions are on-site only.

Not saying FED is safe from layoffs as I know Sales got hit hard a few years ago but, other than that I can't say I know anybody who's been let go in the last 6 years from any department (minus one person.)

2025 net income $7 billion
$16.59 diluted EPS
2024 Q4 net income $2 billion and $4.88 diluted EPS

By virtually all measures 2025 was a successful year. Strong execution across all business lines resulted in record revenue.

Don't be fooled by Bill's remarks that we are lacking in performance. His RTO announcement is nothing more than a fear mongering power trip. We have proven quarter after quarter, year after year, that remote work - WORKS! Its 2026 for f**ks sake. Maybe if we follow Bill's logic we should eliminate PNC Online Banking (something we delivered during the pandemic) because "we work best together in person" (Bill's words). So eliminate Online Banking and have everyone use a physical branch. Oh you live an hour away from a branch? Sorry you must use your nearest branch.

Is CAT digital in Chicago 5 day RTO? Also how is the work culture and work life balance here?

There are hardly any jobs in the job market. Good luck finding a remote role in this economy when you’re competing with thousands of h1b's and h4 ead's.

I know there are people on this site who probably have some insights into what’s happening with remote employees. Specifically in that middle job grade class (14-17).
If you can share any insights into the remote/layoff strategy in 2026 please do. Should I be concerned and on alert if I’m in this grade range and remote?

Long story short, I left AIG for more $ and to expand on my insurance knowledge with different lines. AIG actually has the best PTO benefits out there the pay raises su-ked from my experience. I am looking to come back to AIG. What is the chances I would be hired back being a former employee and fully remote like it used to be?

Bonjour les amis.

Ever since the original post on 12/3 and the news attention that followed, there has been an influx of bad faith posters (executive leadership) on every subsequent post addressing the RTO situation. I wanted to take this opportunity to organize and present my fellow employees with some facts about PNC, its leadership, and the financial aspects of this move.

It is no secret that many large corporations have been enforcing RTO mandates as a "soft layoff," hoping that these no-exception policies reduce enough headcount to avoid the potential bad press of an actual RIF. With PNC specifically, there are some additional financial benefits they are kind enough to pass the cost off to you!

Out of the 55,000 people employed by PNC, 11,000 are local to Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas.

They own a large chunk of downtown Pittsburgh between Tower, One PNC, Two PNC, Three PNC (like a Dr. Seuss book of tax evasion!), and Firstside.

Additionally, they own many of the parking garages, which cost nearly $20/day or $180/month, and the food courts ($10 salads, yay!). PNC also receives a kickback due to its role as the primary bank of nearly every business in the area.

Simply put, there is a direct financial incentive for PNC to enforce an RTO mandate on all employees in the Pittsburgh region.

I mean, can you blame them? With the economy the way it is, they must be taking such a loss just supporting our poor souls.

In 2022, total revenue was $20.64 billion; $20.75 billion in 2023; and $20.77 billion in 2024– a 10.77% jump in Q4 of last year alone. Any "loss of productivity due to remote work" is a classroom rumor rather than anything based in fact.

Let's take a look at employee experience. We see a stagnant wage growth with 1-3.5% raises and pitiful bonuses, leaving us poorer year after year as we watch cost of living costs skyrocket; additional stipulations being put on employees to reduce rising through TSR levels; terrible health insurance that costs more out of pocket than any job I have worked in my life for the lowest high-deductible plan; and a worse 401k match and retirement plan than any other bank.

How are our fearless leaders doing? Well, in 2024 (public information disclosed by PNC filings)

William S. Demchak - 23.7 Million

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Robert Q. Reilly - 6.8 Million

Exec. VP and Chief Financial Officer

E. William Parsley, III - 7.8 Million

Exec. VP and Chief Operating Officer

Deborah Guild, Exec. - 5.4 Million

VP and Head of Technology

Alexander E. C. Overstrom - 5.3 Million dollars

Exec. VP and Head of Retail Banking

As you can see, they are also struggling to get by.

The question is posed: What is there to be done? Do we just shore up our resumes and start applying elsewhere?

If that is an option for you and it leads to a better life, absolutely. But for those of us that can't nor want to give PNC the satisfaction of a successful soft layoff to compliment their acquisition of First Bank, there is a better way.

Unionization is the only way we will ever take back any control over how this org treats us. Complaints to management fall on deaf ears because at a certain level those complaints will always be drowned out by another multi-million dollar stock option. HR is there to protect the company, not you. They will not give a damn about your life situation or even doctor-recommended accommodation to continue your WFH lifestyle.

Management is getting scared; they are avidly searching for people interacting with this site or posting about the RTO policy online. While you should protect yourself, remind yourself that this fear stems from the effectiveness of unions and the bargaining power that can be gained from a collective.

Don't suffer alone. Don’t fade off quietly as you watch what you have claimed back for yourself and your loved ones be su-ked away by a pointless commute. You do not live to work for these people. You work to live your life. The conversations that have taken place online over the last 2 months have gotten the attention of union organizers for Better Banks.

Copied from an earlier post:

"https://www.thelayoff.com/p/@1f9+1kbjhrba6
Comment: 1f9+1kbjhrba6"

Even for those that do not care about this mandate, I urge you to join your peers and take back the profit of your labor. You have nothing to lose but your chains.

Unionize now, solidarity forever.

I'm curious.

AT&T literally:
sells connectivity
sells remote access
sells cloud voice
sells VPNs
sells mobile data
sells collaboration tools
…while forcing its own people to drive 2 hours a day to sit on Teams calls in an open space with no assigned seating.

Add Stank - a tired, clueless, utility salesman, now targeting and trolling Tmobiles LinkedIn, begging for customers.

Add a stock thats dropping from 28 to now down to 23, it will keep going down.

Could you be more pathetic?

I'm not even going to bother to wait. There might not be many, but there are available remote jobs in my field and I plan to apply to every single one of them. I'm not staying around for this cr-p.

Hey guys, I’m hearing that around some time this year AT&T will be hiring for premier service consultant work from home again. Has anyone heard this same info on customer service jobs continuing work from home ?

Will this apply to all teams, or will some remain fully remote? I’ve heard it applies across all departments.

Procurement employees I know are being asked if they live within 50 miles of L3Harris location. It won't be long now.

I’m asking you to message your director, your executive, your head of department to voice your frustrations. Let’s be real we have proven the remote model works very well. Acquiring BBVA and FirstBank, launching the new PNC website, onboarding over 11 million customers to a new user experience, beating earnings on a consistent basis, consistent dividend increases, record net income multiple times, becoming a top 5 national bank, and most importantly for the executives - a record high stock price less than a week ago. Let’s be real on another front, this announcement is driven by politics, power and greed. Don’t fall for the excuses. Well my friend Jamie Dimon did it, so why can’t we? Our shareholders don’t like empty buildings. Yea right our shareholders care about one thing only, ROI. (See above) Don’t fall for the corporate buzzwords that PNC loves to slurp on. “Being in the office fuels collaboration, sparks innovation, and helps us grow–individually and collectively.” In realty from someone who was five days in office, being in office fuels distractions, a longer commute, a reduce in W/L balance, and our carbon footprint (remember PNC loves the carbon footprint buzz-phrase). When a director or executive visited our floor, we were never approached or asked questions and if we tried to introduce ourself it was at the most a quick wave hi and goodbye. There was no collaboration. You took the time out of your busy schedule to come visit us and we couldn’t get a word in. Which is ironic because here we are yet again at a time where we are not given a chance to get a word in.

Long time FTE

Let’s stop pretending this five days a week RTO mandate is about collaboration, culture, or productivity. We already proved, clearly and measurably, that productivity increased while working remotely. During the pandemic, employees kept PNC stable, profitable, and operational under extraordinary circumstances. That wasn’t leadership from the top, that was workers carrying the bank on their backs.

Now the “reward” is being forced back into offices to sit on Teams calls all day, while absorbing thousands of dollars a year in new costs - gas, parking, commuting time, childcare, daily life friction - in an economy that’s already on fire. Wages haven’t kept up with the cost of living in years, people are stressed across the board, and somehow the solution is to make life harder for the people doing the actual work.

Let’s be honest about what this really is: empty buildings, tax incentives, sunk real-estate costs, and executive optics. Cities are upset. Balance sheets are uncomfortable. And instead of adapting to a proven, modern way of working, PNC chose to protect assets and executive compensation - at employees’ expense.

This decision makes one thing painfully clear: PNC doesn’t care about its people, its so-called “family,” or the reality employees are currently living in. It cares about making top tier executives even richer, no matter the cost. That isn’t leadership. It’s greed wrapped in a RTO memo. 🖕🏻