#returntooffice

Got a "first and final" warning about Connect Week attendance today, specifically time spent in office rather than badging in and out. And no bonus for me this year as a result. Pretty floored although I guess it's better than being fired with no warning? Am I the only one?

He correctly identified many of our weaknesses. That's half the battle--fixing all that won't be so easy.
And he did show that he has some common sense in getting rid of that ridiculous "hub or no promotion" policy. I'd say that bodes well for WFH going forward (perhaps that's wishful thinking).

So it begins.. more and more groups moving back to more days in the office. 4 days for all next…

Those in management circles what are you hearing about the quiet layoffs going on? Management seems intent on making things so bad for employees with the wirthless 4 days in office, benefits cuts and sheer arrogance from leaders. This American company doesn't care about America anymore. Can we outsource our CEO?

Herald square NYO colleagues have a 10 am update tomorrow. Anyone have the details?

Get ready folks, getting strong vibes this call will include back to office 5 days a week!

If it’s not in set stone writing by HR … how can they really even enforce this?

Also do we know yet how managers will be getting reports of employees coming into the office?

Is it by badge scans? By seeing if device is connected to building WiFi?

Just got word from my sources that corp risk 4 day RTO will start in April 1 and not Jan 1.

Congrats fellow coffee badgers

Question was posed at this quarters fireside chat where Demchak essentially "hinted" that 5 day return to office will be required following a flowery rant about how while WFH "benefits employees" it "harms the company" and that he is trying to imagine a world where "he is asking you to do your job".

Good luck everyone in Pittsburgh, I would not plan on a cost of living adjustment or a commute benefit coming down the pipeline while Ol' Bill claims his 2026 stock award of the tens of millions.

Can you belive this? Before long there will be no companies offering remote work, unbelievable!

Do we have sufficient seats ? any news ?

Letting people work from home for the month would be a much needed reset from the weekly he-l of commuting five days a week. Most employees will be on vacation anyway, so how much real collaboration will happen? Offices will be sparsely populated, it’s dark and cold, and seasonal illnesses are everywhere.

Closing the offices for a month would also save a huge amount of money. For a company of AT&T’s size, one month of office expenses: utilities, cleaning, security, and overhead likely runs into tens of millions of dollars. That money could go toward employee bonuses instead of forcing people into empty offices. Employees get relief, morale improves, and the company saves money. Win-win.

It’s common knowledge amongst the Leadership that Federal approval for the Frontier deal had a condition attached for Verizon to get staff back into the office…Hammocks video was a smokescreen. It has nothing to do with collaboration and everything to do with keeping the US Government on side

Saw a few of these posts about 5 day RTO in January and there’s supposed to be an email coming out soon. Anyone have info on this?

When are we going to call out this company for doing small layoffs to stay under the WARN number to keep it quiet and implementing RTO to make our lives miserable so that the EC gets the attrition they are looking for? Rick said no plans to change RTO in 2025 because he knew he was going to change it for 2026 and no large scale layoffs because he has a bunch of small scales ones planned. He doesn't want to be called a liar like Walt was but I'm tired of them not being transparent about what they have planned. This place used to care about employees but now its the same corporate McKinsey nonsense we see everywhere else. Executives getting insane amounts of stock compensation and trying to make it sound like we are getting a good deal getting less than three percent raises and an extra 10 percent bonus. 100k comp is comparable to 54k 20 years ago

Many are doing factory or punch clock, 8 hours and done. Innovation, extra items, change or update nope 8hrs , no 10plus hrs, no nights, no weekends why because those that had to did it and never complained. I see many in the office that I agree need to be there, but I also see what are they doing (nothing) since not in meetings throughout the day, one group is the so called (ACC monster) The mess up is they bundled the do’ers the ones that they know have gone above repeatedly to keep things going and in react mode when needed at anytime and never complained with the groups that can work 8hrs be done until the next day, those never are accountable. YES SIR that is where leadership sc--wed up, since without those that do the actual support and now 8hrs will unfortunately reflect in these RTO metrics missing just like the missing Employee survey that went missing a few years ago. Something leadership to date has never recovered as in TRUST ( PLE Class) with their managers. I think many that read this agree!

When was Toast’s current hybrid work policy for North America first introduced? The one with different requirements for on-time work for employees living within 25 miles from an office location. Also, is this policy actually enforced for those employees?

Let's vent in this thread. That's it, that is the message.

Currently, quite a few fully remote workers are still with the company. Once they got rid of promotions/job growth for remote employees, it seemed like layoffs are imminent. What are the chances that remote employees are let go once RTO 2.0 starts in Feb?

I guess we need it every once in a while. It so su-ks.

And push as many of us out as they can along the way. Anyone who thinks this is about anything other than maximizing profits by getting rid of people on the cheap is being naive.

It seems everyone comes to this site to complain, but I am here to celebrate. Our new CEO has announced that 3 day RTO is here to stay. This is wonderful news and proof that Srini trusts his leadership team and all of us to do our jobs! Thank you Srini! you are awesome!

Does anyone have reliable information on planned changes for RTO - are we going to be expected in office more days soon?

The issue with big corporations is that they have a one-size fits all approach to their employees, which lets face it - it's the least effective model. The responses from this post is proof of this. Good companies, take the time to take a macro look at what works for each department. Sure, it makes sense that creatives and productive teams would benefit from being in the office 5 days a week, but so many other departments, finance, legal, etc., would probably do well with 2 to 3 days a week. Their deliverables do not depend on staff being in the office every day. Companies that employ RTO is not really about collaboration or bringing everyone together. It's a tactic. To force people out (called a backdoor layoff - you can look it up) and to create a controlled office labor. Check out those companies that have done this in the last few years - isn't it odd, those announcements come with public admission of issues in the company, along with huge layoffs?

Good post. Putting it up for visibility.
OP: @am+1kakpjk0y

If it’s true that a full RTO mandate is coming in January, that’s what will really hit us. They’ll 100% set the requirements so they’re impossible, or near impossible, for a lot of people to meet, fully aware that everyone will bend over backwards to comply given the job market. RTO will just become another way to push people out without calling it cuts.

Expect an email after Thanksgiving. Welcome to the new Verizon

Anyone see today’s nuke on The Post about RTO?

The guy just comes off like a j@ck @$$.

I am hearing of remote directors being told to begin reporting to hubs. I checked my own director in the directory and they are now reclassified as working out of a hub. Anyone else noticing a change in remote to hub status?

Perhaps this is old news, but heard for the first time today that even established telecommuters within 35 miles of an office are going to be required in office 5 days.

Wow. I heard they’re about to lay off another 2000 employees, most likely in order to make room for fully in person work next year

The employee-employer power balance has shifted firmly to the employer, according to Glassdoor’s 2026 Worklife Trends report — and it has prompted employees to reexamine their engagement in turn.

https://www.hrdive.com/news/forever-layoffs-and-rto-pressure-employers-hold-the-power-again/805673/

Currently working Hybrid and been told that Thursday is remote day while Tuesday and Wednesday are office days.

Def not a coincidence even if they want to frame it as early thanksgiving break.

Going back to the office 5 days a week starting on January 5th? No work life balance? It sounded like we can’t even work from home to take or kid to a doctors appointment?

Only 6 more weeks until 4x days WFO.
I can't wait for us all to get back to the office - we are better together.
This will make us beat Exxon for sure

The best people leave first. Not that Medtronic seems to care about keeping skilled and experienced employees.

With recent announcements stating jobs would only be open in the main hub locations, I bet layoffs for workers who don't live close to the a hub. More and more people are required to go into the office so it's only makes sense. Why get rid of 1 millionaire vp when you can get rid of 15,000 low level employees? If you want to stay with the company, they are still aggressively hiring in all other countries except the United States.

Didn’t last long with the “return to office.”

So, what actually happens if someone doesn’t stick to the 5-day RTO policy? Will managers just note it during performance reviews, meaning it could impact our bonuses or raises? Just wondering what steps Truist expects managers to take with team members who don’t follow the policy.

Pre covid office was 5 days, so I don’t think it’s new rule. As well it’s too hard to communicate with remote people, sometimes responses are super slow and confusing.

1. Collaboration: Being in the office can make face-to-face meetings and spontaneous brainstorming easier.
2. Culture building: Physical presence can help new hires integrate and reinforce company values.
3. Visibility: Managers can see work happening and provide real-time feedback.
4. Team cohesion: Shared space can strengthen relationships and alignment across teams.
5. Structured environment: For some roles, having a dedicated workspace helps employees stay focused and productive.

You see how these are all good things? Just RTO 5 days as you’re asked and we can turn this company around. Cmon guys. It might even be fun!