#returntooffice

With the pending cuts and return to the office , I would like to know will the office be providing free coffee and lunch at least one day a week? Am i going to have equipment at the office and at home? I should not have to carry my computer, monitors, cables between home and the office.
I now will have lost time due to travel, have to spend money on travel to and from the office.
I have been told that it is expected we are in the office eight to five and they will be monitoring who is late or leaves early. This place gets worse by the minute

Guess I should just be greatful to still have a job but man does this su-k. Guess I should've seen it coming.

For all of us in Phase 1, curious to hear your thoughts on the experiment thus far after the snack cart honeymoon period has worn off.

I for one think it’s worse than expected. For sure my productivity has gone down with my commute and working hours. I am no longer amenable to responding to Slacks or emails after hours if this level of rigidity is in place. That alone is a big productivity drop.

While in the office finding rooms to have meetings or private conversations are becoming more and more complicated. Why do unused offices and meeting rooms get locked? Is it a safety issue?

Does it actually matter whether your RTO is ‘above model’ or ‘on model’?
Because showing up 4 days a week is enough tiring. Going beyond that starts to feel like voluntary suffering.

When do the people working from home have to report back to office.

I just was offered a telecommuter position in Minnesota. I was wondering if anyone know if there are plans to expand the RTO radius?

No benefit to this. More attrition and lost productivity on it way.

Are the consulting roles at PwC’s Atlanta office hybrid, fully remote, or strictly in-office? If hybrid, how many days in office is required?

https://www.aol.com/articles/cubicles-dead-says-kevin-oleary-171606254.html

The workforce is changing and companies ignoring it are setting themselves up to fail. Kevin O’Leary recently said, “Cubicles are dead,” and warned that forcing people back into offices will only attract the bottom quartile of talent. Millennials and Gen Z now dominate the labor market, and for them work-life balance and flexibility are not perks, they are baseline expectations. As Baby Boomers phase out, companies insisting on five-day RTO will find themselves competing for the shrinking pool of workers who can’t leave.

RTO isn’t just a morale issue. It destroys value, drives top talent away, and leaves companies exposed with only the least mobile employees. The lesson is clear: productivity, collaboration, and retention follow autonomy, not attendance. Any leadership that believes otherwise is betting against the future of work.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/boomer-gen-x-bosses-retire-133952598.html

Skip to main content

Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance
Sign in
Search query
Search for news or tickers
Fortune
As boomer and Gen X bosses retire, working from home will make a major comeback, new research predicts—and it’s all thanks to work-life balance loving Gen Z bosses
Orianna Rosa Royle
Tue, February 17, 2026 at 7:39 AM CST 4 min read

I'm 67, $1.5M: How Much Can I Reduce RMDs By Converting $120k To Roth? (Ask An Advisor)
Finance Advisors
•
Ad
Miss the pandemic era of working from home? Give it a decade or two, and it’s set to be the norm again. That’s because, although baby boomer and Gen X bosses may be winning the return-to-office war right now, new data suggests it’s a short-lived victory.

In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that millennial and Gen Z bosses are far more likely to let staff work remotely than their older counterparts—and that it’s only a matter of time before they take over and bring their affinity for flexibility with them.

Skip to main content

Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance
Sign in
Search query
Search for news or tickers
Fortune
As boomer and Gen X bosses retire, working from home will make a major comeback, new research predicts—and it’s all thanks to work-life balance loving Gen Z bosses
Orianna Rosa Royle
Tue, February 17, 2026 at 7:39 AM CST 4 min read

I'm 67, $1.5M: How Much Can I Reduce RMDs By Converting $120k To Roth? (Ask An Advisor)
Finance Advisors
•
Ad
Miss the pandemic era of working from home? Give it a decade or two, and it’s set to be the norm again. That’s because, although baby boomer and Gen X bosses may be winning the return-to-office war right now, new data suggests it’s a short-lived victory.

In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that millennial and Gen Z bosses are far more likely to let staff work remotely than their older counterparts—and that it’s only a matter of time before they take over and bring their affinity for flexibility with them.

More from Yahoo Scout

How does remote work connect to AI adoption?

How will younger CEOs change remote work policies?

What advantages do remote-first companies have over traditional offices?

What drives generational differences in workplace flexibility approaches?

The researchers tracked monthly surveys of 8,000 U.S. workers aged 20 to 64 across 2025 and concluded that when it comes to flexible working, two things are consistently true: employees at younger firms, and under younger CEOs, spend significantly more time working from home.

“First, employees work from home more often at younger firms—almost twice as often at firms founded after 2015 as compared to those founded before 1990,” the researchers wrote. “Second, employees work from home more often at firms with younger CEOs.”

In fact, you can see in their data that as CEOs get younger, the number of days they demand staff work from an office decreases, with those working under a twenty-something-year-old chief working from home the most.

It’s why the researchers concluded that work from home is poised to make a comeback, despite the likes of Amazon and JPMorgan currently mandating a full-time office return. As older leaders retire, the days of b-ms on seats five days a week are likely to fade with them.

In other words, your future commute may depend less on what HR says and more on the birth year of the person in the corner office.

And for workers who don’t want to wait, the study offers a simple hack: target younger firms with younger bosses if you want to maximize your chances of keeping your home office setup.

Gen Z bosses aren’t just flexible-first, they’re also digital-first
It’s not just that young bosses came of age during the pandemic’s remote work bo-m and see office cubicles as an outdated relic. Many of them built their businesses on Slack, Zoom, and AI tools, so flexibility and technology are baked into how their firms run—not bolted on as a perk.

The researchers found a clear correlation between younger CEOs and companies that are both flexible-first and digital-first, with leaders who embrace remote work also more likely to adopt new technologies and software-driven approaches to running their teams.

And that echoes what future-thinking CEOs have already been warning: Leaders who cling to the old ways of working aren’t serious about embracing AI.
“Forget about where people are working. Most companies will go by the wayside if they don’t embrace AI,” Mark Dixon, CEO and founder of International Workplace Group (IWG), exclusively told Fortune. “If you look at winners and losers, the winners are the ones that embrace the technology.”

“Embracing the whole of the technology, which is flexible work, flexible location, high levels of technology, using technology to get more out of your people. Those will be the winning companies, because they focus on the people,” Dixon warns.

Skip to main content

Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance
Sign in
Search query
Search for news or tickers
Fortune
As boomer and Gen X bosses retire, working from home will make a major comeback, new research predicts—and it’s all thanks to work-life balance loving Gen Z bosses
Orianna Rosa Royle
Tue, February 17, 2026 at 7:39 AM CST 4 min read

I'm 67, $1.5M: How Much Can I Reduce RMDs By Converting $120k To Roth? (Ask An Advisor)
Finance Advisors
•
Ad
Miss the pandemic era of working from home? Give it a decade or two, and it’s set to be the norm again. That’s because, although baby boomer and Gen X bosses may be winning the return-to-office war right now, new data suggests it’s a short-lived victory.

In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that millennial and Gen Z bosses are far more likely to let staff work remotely than their older counterparts—and that it’s only a matter of time before they take over and bring their affinity for flexibility with them.

More from Yahoo Scout

How does remote work connect to AI adoption?

How will younger CEOs change remote work policies?

What advantages do remote-first companies have over traditional offices?

What drives generational differences in workplace flexibility approaches?

The researchers tracked monthly surveys of 8,000 U.S. workers aged 20 to 64 across 2025 and concluded that when it comes to flexible working, two things are consistently true: employees at younger firms, and under younger CEOs, spend significantly more time working from home.

“First, employees work from home more often at younger firms—almost twice as often at firms founded after 2015 as compared to those founded before 1990,” the researchers wrote. “Second, employees work from home more often at firms with younger CEOs.”

In fact, you can see in their data that as CEOs get younger, the number of days they demand staff work from an office decreases, with those working under a twenty-something-year-old chief working from home the most.

It’s why the researchers concluded that work from home is poised to make a comeback, despite the likes of Amazon and JPMorgan currently mandating a full-time office return. As older leaders retire, the days of b-ms on seats five days a week are likely to fade with them.

In other words, your future commute may depend less on what HR says and more on the birth year of the person in the corner office.

And for workers who don’t want to wait, the study offers a simple hack: target younger firms with younger bosses if you want to maximize your chances of keeping your home office setup.

Gen Z bosses aren’t just flexible-first, they’re also digital-first
It’s not just that young bosses came of age during the pandemic’s remote work bo-m and see office cubicles as an outdated relic. Many of them built their businesses on Slack, Zoom, and AI tools, so flexibility and technology are baked into how their firms run—not bolted on as a perk.

The researchers found a clear correlation between younger CEOs and companies that are both flexible-first and digital-first, with leaders who embrace remote work also more likely to adopt new technologies and software-driven approaches to running their teams.

And that echoes what future-thinking CEOs have already been warning: Leaders who cling to the old ways of working aren’t serious about embracing AI.

“Forget about where people are working. Most companies will go by the wayside if they don’t embrace AI,” Mark Dixon, CEO and founder of International Workplace Group (IWG), exclusively told Fortune. “If you look at winners and losers, the winners are the ones that embrace the technology.”

“Embracing the whole of the technology, which is flexible work, flexible location, high levels of technology, using technology to get more out of your people. Those will be the winning companies, because they focus on the people,” Dixon warns.

As other leaders have pointed out, firms that focus on physical presence rather than remote, AI-driven work risk falling behind competitors.

Brian O’Kelley, the tech founder who sold AppNexus to AT&T for $1.6 billion in 2018, before founding Scope3, argued that remote firms, like his, have the top pick of top global talent and operate around the clock.

“The best companies are going to actually dump their offices to learn to work with non-bodied employees,” O’Kelley echoed in Fortune. “Anybody who has a back-to-office culture is actually hurting themselves.”

Being spread across time zones doesn’t just make his workforce available to customers at all hours of the day—it forces teams to be efficient and lean on the latest tech in ways traditional office-based companies simply don’t need to.

That’s why companies fixated on presence rather than productivity gains that actually enable an AI-first future are at a disadvantage.

“The thing is, if you build a culture that’s asynchronous and remote, it means you’re building a culture for AI to thrive,” O’Kelley added. “If you’re building an office culture, you are actually not building an AI-first ecosystem.”

I know this has been beaten to the ground but I'm venting and am questioning how harshly anyone is even paying attention to RTO...

I'm so tired of driving a solid hour to the office every single day, wasting gas and paying $20 a week on TOLLS only to be there for a few hours... With ONE other person on my team. I'm spending about $100 a week just to go to work and sit on fkn virtual calls I can do at home while dealing with dogshit WiFi. If I lived 15 mins away I wouldn't care about it tbh; but I drive 80 miles a day + gas + tolls + unnecessary car mileage to do sh-t I can do at home.

I took my computer to tech central last week because I hadn't used it in years - a test machine - and they told me Dell took all the LAN wires, switches and routers out for LAN connectivity as they never planned on having anyone RTO... Yet, here we are.

Being forced to work in half baked offices with not enough docks or desks, being forced to park half a mile away from your building, INSANE cafe prices for food that is sub-par at best - and most is bought from freakin HEB (grocery store) lol.. all while raises are comical and promotions are non existent.

I love my job and unfortunately rely on those paychecks so, I'll be a good peon and go in

did anyone fill out the RTO survey yet?

I am also curious what you all think… do you feel our feedback will actually be taken seriously? I am wondering how much impact it might have.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Remember folks, there is no such thing as loyalty in Corporate America for its customers, workers, or even its brand: just the shareholders. Our salaries are only based on how hard it is to replace us and with AI and increased offshoring we are seen more as a burden and expense than as an asset. Ive been with this company for 25+ years. When I started it was preached that the lower pay was because the company was a place where if you worked hard, they would invest in your development, you can advance, and your job security was pretty high because where we like a family. That was true for the first 15 years of my career here, the workplace culture was excellent. That drastically changed since the end of the pandemic. Im hoping to make it a few more years before a RIF so I can just retire. I feel bad for those having to deal with this here or any major company in the United States. Get ready for two major items in the next 6 months: Major RIFs/layoffs and a full return to office mandate. If you don't come back to the office because you believed the company a few years ago about living wherever you wanted and being able to work or work life balance, you might want to start looking for a new job/career now. If you are an office or hybrid worker, new tech is coming to help HR track you better even if your manager is located in a completely different office or continent. AI is getting better and offshoring is increasing. The talk about doing the "right thing" has been stifled if it does not align with the new "model." The only thing that will make this company improve its workers culture is if the economy, job markets, and competition improve, and until there is a new administration, I doubt that will happen.

Parking at the Plano locations has gotten so bad, the police are starting to write tickets and tow cars. If you get to work after 8:30, forget about it. If you leave for lunch, forget about it when you come back. Your only option is a park & ride lot over 2 miles away. At least the company runs a shuttle back and forth all day.

ENGINE only need to work 2 or 3 days in office.

Maybe their pay should be reduced, since the rest of the company now it’s required to work 4x days?

does WF have enough space? Our location is quite crowded already.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-is-planning-a-big-return-to-office-rto-push-2025-12

For the employees located in South Jersey/Burlington who have been working from home the last 6 weeks due to renovations to make room for CFS in July, how is everyone feeling going back in tomorrow? I am not going to lie, dreading it.. Not only just the mere fact of going back into the office after being in a better place mentally from WFH, but like alot of people, seating arrangements are not great, alot doesn't make sense, I feel like it will be just another giant cluster*u-k.. I know we should be grateful about having a job, but I know plenty of people that are wishing they were one of the ones laid off--all we can hope for is that another round comes in the summer..

So you're mandated to go into the office and you don't have assigned seats? I saw someone say they have to go in before 7am in order to get a seat? Diabolical.

Supposedly anyone within 25 miles of any office. Good luck.

As much as people are fighting it now, the reality is we'll adapt. We always do. The strong feelings about WFH will soften, and showing up at the office will go back to being the unremarkable default. It's inevitable. Sad but very much true.

CEO:
Good afternoon, Team. I want to thank the 11 of you who were able to join this mandatory town hall on such short notice. We scheduled this meeting early and during your daily commute time so you would be more productive and there would be less chance you might attend. Your presence today demonstrates your commitment to our shared vision of Transformative Workforce Realignment™.

Before we begin, I want to address the rumors circulating online.
No, we are not conducting layoffs.
We are simply rebalancing our talent ecosystem through a series of performance‑aligned, location‑optimized, AI‑enhanced workforce transitions.

Let me explain.

“1. We Are Not Downsizing — We Are Rightsizing”

Some of you may have noticed that your colleagues have… disappeared.
This is not a layoff.
This is Strategic Talent Migration™.

We are migrating talent out of the company and into the broader economy, where they can pursue exciting new opportunities that we have thoughtfully curated by eliminating their roles.
This is what leadership looks like.

“2. Your Performance Rating Is Not About You”
You may have recently received a performance rating that surprised you.
Perhaps you were rated “Exceeds Expectations” for 14 consecutive years and suddenly received “Needs Immediate Intervention.”
Let me be clear:
This is not a reflection of your performance.
This is a reflection of our organizational tax strategy.

We are committed to avoiding WARN Act triggers, and your rating plays a critical role in that mission.

Remember:
When you grow, we grow.
When you go, our SUI tax rate stays low.

“3. Return‑to‑Office Is About Culture, Not Attrition”
Some have asked why we require you to return to the office even though:

• Your office was closed
• Your team is in three different time zones
• Your desk has been replaced by a potted plant
• Your badge no longer opens the door

Let me assure you:
RTO is not about forcing resignations.
It is about rebuilding community — specifically, the community of people who still work here after RTO.

“4. Global Talent Optimization”
We are proud to announce that we are expanding our global footprint in Pune and Manchester. This is not because labor costs are lower.
It is because we believe in unlocking global synergies.
And if those synergies happen to cost 80% less per headcount, that is simply a happy coincidence.

“5. AI Is Not Replacing You — It Is Empowering You”
Some of you have expressed concern that AI is taking over your job.
This is a misunderstanding.
AI is not replacing you.
AI is freeing you — from your responsibilities, your role, and your employment.
We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition as you train the AI that will empower your future successor.

6. “Why You Didn’t Receive a WARN Notice”
I want to address this directly.

You did not receive a WARN notice because:
• We did not lay off enough people at once
• We spread reductions across multiple 30‑day windows
• We reclassified separations as “performance‑aligned exits”
• We encouraged voluntary resignations
• We relocated roles to places you cannot physically reach
• We believe in agile workforce management

WARN notices are for companies that lack creativity.
We are innovators.

***Q&A Session***

***Employee:***
Why are so many people being rated poorly all of a sudden?
***CEO:***
Great question.
We are committed to data‑driven performance excellence, and the data shows that our reduction targets require a 17% increase in “Needs Improvement” ratings.

***Employee:***
Why are U.S. jobs being moved offshore?
***CEO:***
We are not moving jobs offshore.
We are expanding global opportunities while sunsetting domestic redundancies.

***Employee:***
Are more layoffs coming?
***CEO:***
We do not comment on future workforce transitions.
But we can confirm that ***your role is critical to our success*** — until it isn’t.

***Moderator:***  
Now that's all the time we have. Sorry (not) we can't take any more questions.

Closing Remarks

CEO:
Thank you for your continued dedication to our mission of Sustainable Workforce Optimization™.
We value each and every one of you — especially those who remain after this meeting.
Remember:
We are one team.
One vision.
One continuous reduction cycle.

Have a great rest of your day, and now please check Workday for updates to your performance rating.

Wendy Stewart (yuck) confirmed it today on a presentation call. Starting in March, it’s 5 days with 5 floaters a month. So, in typical arrogant banker talk, it’s more confusing than needs to be. It’s 4 days for 3 of the weeks in a month, and 3 days for one of the weeks, via the 5 floater days.

This place truly does su-k. No raises. No bonuses. Just cr-p.

Every one of the leaders should ask THEMSELVES this question and think about the “deposits” they’re making with the employee base. You have no “money in the bank” with the employees since you fuxed everyone over with 5 day RTO.

Potential employee here. I know 5 days per week in office is the official policy, but is it actually enforced across 100% of teams? I know a lot of similar companies have RTO policies on paper, but they aren't policed. Thanks in advance;

Since that seems to be the goal. I wonder if it worked as intended, or if people, given the job market, are just trying hard to accommodate. I'm in the latter group. RTO is needlessly time-consuming, expensive, and it’s hard to see any reasonable explanation beyond pressuring people to quit. Coming into the office has made me less efficient, and nobody on my team is even nearby anyway. I’ve decided to go along with it for now while I look for another job. In this game of chicken, I'll let them be forced to lay me off. After so many years, I'm not leaving without a severance.

I am sure the majority of people in Burlington are enjoying their time WFH while smaller desks, and cramped quarters will be taking effect in the building for our return. I can speak for myself when I say my mental health has been so much better for the last 5 weeks, however knowing this is our last week WFH (fingers crossed it gets extended) my anxiety is creeping about returning to the office..

One, two, three
Two chairs—the music stops.
Follow the decree:
One of you will drop.

Central, East, West—
You’re safest in the middle.
This isn’t a test,
Or a well-thought riddle.

Experience used to matter.
Results were once measured.
Now talent’s grown scattered,
And good work? No longer treasured.

Does it end with you or me?
Customers first, the message repeats.
Hello, goodbye—latest casualty.
One less chair—fewer seats.

Did you see the culture survey?
Breakfast and mingle with leaders.
RTO and layoffs underplay
The truth beneath the speakers.

Am I the next to go?
Be cautious of the meeting.
Does anyone know
When comes the next reaping?

One, two, three—
Only one chair left.
You’ve been set free.
You can drop the heft.

So i told my manager I went home because there was no place to sit. The answer is to look at different days where not as many people are there. So we are supposed to go in to the office to collaborate with people but we are supposed to pick days when people aren’t there. Make it make sense.

https://www.businessinsider.com/stellantis-return-to-office-5-days-us-staff-rto-2026-1

Hi all

I don't work in IBM but an ex IBM guy is taking over where I work and RTO has been announced

Just wondering is it enforced at IBM ? Is there a min number of hours on site or can you just leave whenever
Thanks

Are they just weeks you’re required to go to office? What if no one on your team lives in the same state as you?

Saw a comment on a different post about “connect weeks” schedule being posted…. What’s that?

Are those weeks when you’re expected to come into the office? I assume where most if not all meetings are through Zoom?

Or is it Forced socializing?

No, major companies are not shifting towards greater WFH options/number of days. Home Depot is the latest major employer to confirm this.

"...On Wednesday, the Atlanta-based company confirmed to media outlets that it would lay off 800 staff and make corporate employees return to the office for five days per week in the interests of “in-person engagement..."

The writing is on the wall.
Assume a letter from Mary is imminent because these automakers always copy each other.
2026 was already trash. It's just going to amplify. 😭

Stellantis orders employees to return to work 5 days a week

Coming to your town next !

We hear, even those who got a waiver to work off-site are to come in or lose their jobs.

The recent surge in FORD “ghost” job postings may now make more sense —HR likely anticipated increased turnover among employees who WFH getting canned.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/stellantis-orders-employees-to-return-to-work-5-days-a-week/ar-AA1VlIzy?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=DCTS&cvid=697d0bbac8ed45dfb96d01d3cbb642da&ei=73#comments

What do we think is going to happen with existing HBAs? For instance, I heard over 50% of the home office are HBA. I think it would be incredibly difficult to bring everyone back and hire the needed talent primarily out of St. Louis and Tempe. But I’m wondering what your guys thoughts are?

John Deere is recalling 99 employees for Iowa facilities. This decision stems from increased demand. Seventy-five workers will go to Davenport and 24 to Dubuque. All returning staff work in production and assembly. Their start date is set for mid-February.

https://www.kcci.com/article/john-deere-jobs-iowa-99-employees-return-davenport-dubuque/70174692

RTO is the industry standard---Live with it

Anyone else heard of this? Are they really going to go back to 1 week return to office? Heard from someone that works in HR