#rto

They moved people out of real estate to WFH to get the real estate off the books end of 2nd quarter. Not because there has been a change of heart for RTO. Confirmed, a large WFH group. Shift bid completed early June NOT fully released. Company seems to be releasing 2 - 3 weeks of schedule. Normally, they would release about 3 month. This not an indicator of restructuring. #WFH #AT&T #AT&TLayoffs

RTO is absolutely driving me crazy. I'd quit tomorrow if I could afford it, but since I can't now I just keep hoping they lay me off.

The biggest difference between the two companies isn’t technology. It isn’t strategy. It’s leadership and culture.

At SpaceX, employees are working toward a clear mission. People know the goal, understand the direction, and believe they’re building something important. Here, the only mission we’re working on is RTO and presence reports.

At AT&T, many employees increasingly feel like they’re being blamed for problems they didn’t create.

One of the most common traits of failing leadership is scapegoating. When results disappoint, instead of asking whether the strategy is wrong, leaders look for someone else to blame. Employees become the problem. Feedback becomes the problem. Dissent becomes the problem.

That’s why the 8/1/25 email struck such a nerve and why everyone here is checked out. His message to the employee base was “You don’t matter”.

When employees raised concerns about morale, flexibility, retention, and RTO, the response wasn’t introspection. Employees were told “loyalty is dead” there “might be a disconnect between you and your current professional choice.” Concerns were dismissed as “more outliers than we’d like.”

Many employees read that and saw a leader more interested in defending their bad decision than understanding why so many people opposed it.

Another hallmark of poor leadership is rigidity. Strong leaders adapt when the facts change. Weak leaders treat every challenge to their strategy as a challenge to their authority and it damages their ego. They double down, no matter how much evidence piles up around them that they made a mistake.

Then comes the most dangerous stage, isolation.

Because of the fear of retaliation for pushing back or telling the truth, leaders stop hearing bad news. Dissent gets dismissed. Feedback gets filtered. Executives surround themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. “Yes men”

A bubble forms, and Inside the bubble, everything is working.

Outside the bubble, morale is collapsing, talent is leaving, recruiting is harder, and competitors are pulling further ahead.

Employees aren’t asking for miracles. They’re asking for basic respect and leadership that listens, adapts, and accepts responsibility when something isn’t working.

Instead, many feel they’re being asked to sacrifice more, commute more, give up flexibility, and then accept blame when the outcomes don’t improve.

The most dangerous thing a CEO can do is become so convinced of his own correctness that he stops hearing what everyone else is telling him.

That’s the disconnect employees have been talking about all along and why another company will soon pass us by.

So Lending Operations for USBank USA is moving to USBank India.
part of many layoff in the future as USBank India has capacity for 40,000 employees.

Also of note was the reason why we are now USBank India is because we are global corporation and we work with people-le across the world

So how does this fit in with RTO and collaboration with co workers in office if everyone is in India and sleeping while we are working?

We are hearing rumors in CRM that there will be another return to office, but for remote employees. Anyone else hear this? Are there specific roles being changed or all remote employees?

When will other cities start RTO? It's not fair. We're suffering here in MN :( It's been nearly a year since the 4 days/week announcement was made and revoking remote status based on address for MN and DC. They've said they would likely be adding more office locations where 4 days a week will be mandatory however I've heard nothing besides for us stuck in MN and DC.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/opinion/office-work-wfh-bosses.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sFA.uHrM.1WHzzvC4LbNq&smid=url-share

Assigned to a location officially on RTO letter but chose Dallas instead. Will I get axed for moving to a location other than the RTO specified one? I feel like I will get axed for that but supervisor does not think so and yes I asked multiple times. Anyone in the same boat?

I’m curious about the logistics of how they plan to manage daily over occupancy, specifically around the cafeteria lines. We aren’t even at 100% yet and it seems really hard to move around safely and quickly in the cafe. This seems like an OSHA issue.

Here’s the thing, Fidelity pays a lot lower than competitors. It’s just a fact of the matter. I worked at Fidelity a year ago in WM and as soon as they started the whole RTO thing I did everything in my power to not abide. Leaving early, looking for new jobs on the clock, exceptions etc. believe it or not but if you are licensed that truly does open more doors even in this environment. A lot of the competitors are happy to take us with a nice pay raise

So USAA is doing corporate investigations on lower level employees for RTO, yet they keep hiring executives to be remote, how hypocritical is that? I submitted a JAR earlier today once I saw on LinkedIn the new Chief Information Security Officer is remote. My reasoning, my director is remote in San Diego, ED is remote in New York, a girl on my team remote in Hawaii, and another girl remote in New Mexico and a guy remote in Iowa. Yet I’m the only one in office (Charlotte) and I live in South Carolina, but since it’s only 58 miles and not 60, I’m told to be in office.

Groups are scaling back on 5 days, is this happening in other areas? 2-3 days is enough

For the 8 hour mandate, are the hours averaged over the course of a week, over two weeks, or over monthly? Any other information you could provide on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

A few years ago I was in an office and passed by a conference and saw a Google Slides presentation. I looked closer and saw it was a presentation about feedback from Card Services employees about return to office and stack rankings. I took a picture of the slide and it was hilarious to see. I haven't shared it with anyone because it's too funny. The employees were complaining about low wages too. They said stack rankings are subjective and causing a lot of stress. Having to come into the office just to use Zoom, Slack, and Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets to collaborate.

Well that was about 2.5 years ago and things haven't changed. Except that for the next 1 it will be an inferno of stack ranking, performance calibrations, PIPs, and firings.

Columbus: Mandatory 3 days a week starting Feb 2027
NY: Mandatory 3 days a week starting October 2027

Live far away? Commit to HR by July 17 to relocating or leave effective 1/31 2027. WILD

What would happen if everyone just walked out on the day they started the return to the office and refused to go back till they put things back to hybrid or remote? I mean, if everyone left, they would have to negotiate with us... Cause I don't think they can fire everyone. Like, even if some of the other offices walked out in solidarity?

I know this is a fever dream, but they would be so sc--wed if everyone organized and pushed back on this.

Work From Home Is Here to Stay-Even if Some CEOs Don't Love It
Big companies keep trumpeting return-to-office mandates, but the amount of time Americans work remotely is barely budging. #WSJ 📰

The past couple of years have seen a drumbeat of big companies announcing, to great fanfare, that they were requiring employees to spend more time in the office. Home Depot, Target, Microsoft, 3M, Intel-the list goes on and on.
But across the broader economy, the evidence suggests that the return to the office has stalled out.
An average of 26% of paid, full days were worked from home in May, according to a monthly work-from-home survey run by economists Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom and Steven Davis. That is down, but not by much, from the 27% registered two years earlier.
It was about 30% in 2022, when companies were transitioning away from the pandemic. But in 2019, before the pandemic struck, Labor Department figures show that about 7% of days were worked from home.
"The data does seem at odds with the Jamie Dimon story of the world, where remote work is dead," said Emma Harrington, an economist at the University of Virginia who studies remote work.
Instead, remote-work rates appear to have reached a new equilibrium, with far more people working from home at least part of the time than before the pandemic.

Other data tell a similar story. Kastle Systems, a security company that tracks access-card swipes, puts average workplace occupancy across 10 major cities just slightly higher than a year ago.
Cellphone data collected by technology company Placer.ai found that average office visits per working day in May were about 32% below May 2019 levels. In the same month last year, they were about 35% below that 2019 level.
The disconnect between the high-profile return-to-office mandates from some large companies and the broader data could in part be because, big as they are, those companies account for just a portion of the 163-million-strong U.S. workforce.

Work from home is hardly over. In fact, it's probably here to stay.

• Read more: https://on.wsj.com/44jueEB

So leadersare now expected to be in office 5 days a week to set an example for their direct reports so they also return to office 5 days a week, with assigned sitting.

When does all this change become effective??

🫩

What I hate most about Bill Rogers retiring is he spent years running the company into the ground and due to HIS incompetence, caused mass layoffs of competent teammates, creating a cut-throat environment of incompetent leaders, forcing everyone to return to office, while he rides off into the sunset with his millions in pension and retirement. I hope everyone who suffered under his leadership experience recompense, and everyone who prospered under his leadership begin to reap the very he-l that they sowed.

Leadership keeps saying the office will help with teamwork and new ideas. I’m taking that as my reminder to clean up my resume.

Each team seems to be evaluating what to do based on role. I’m tired of waiting and want to plan my life. What rumors are you hearing?

The June 15th rollout of RTO has occurred. Check your workday profile.
Looks like this batch (so far) included about 400 people out of the 4500+ in PA that work remotely still.
But don't worry, you will soon be replaced by the remote offshore employees.

When RTO was first announced, I thought I’d adjust after a while. That hasn’t really happened, and not just for me. A lot of people seem quieter, more frustrated, and less connected than before.

I’m in my early forties, and I’ve worked in enough places to know when the energy has shifted. This is one of those times. I don’t hate the job itself, but the current setup has made it much harder to stay motivated.

I’ve been browsing remote openings for the past couple of months. I’d rather find something that gives me a little more control over my day and doesn’t make work feel like such a drain.

What we get at Voyix:

• Suggestions to take public transportation and allow extra travel time on game day
• Game day experience at GHQ

Tells you how much Voyix cares about its employees🙄

I've got a week of WFH coming up (taking 3 half-day PTOs). To try to manage my burnout levels, I am thinking of getting a short-term rental somewhere nice and working from it for the week, rather than from my normal home office. I'm not sure if this is going to trigger any kind of monitoring that might cause a problem for me. Is there any known monitoring around what location you are connecting from?

Prior to the pandemic, when I had a full time telecommute agreement, I did this once or twice a year. My wife and I would rent a beach house or a place up in the mountains and hole up for the week. Still working but changing the scenery for awhile. It did wonders for my mental health. Never cleared it with a manager, just did it and never heard squat about it being a problem. But I haven't done anything like this since 2022, and given the way leadership has been flailing around about RTO and putting various heavy-handed monitoring in place, I'm not sure if it will still fly these days.

Any advice appreciated.

There is a 0% chance the executive team provides a statement regarding the ongoing and increasing dangerous crime around the PNC buildings. 15yr old sh00ts 17yr old early Sunday morning [https://www.wtae.com/article/17-year-old-shot-in-ki-led-in-downtown/71580605]
But we shouldn’t be surprised considering how silent they’ve been since January. I’m aware this crime is a problem for the mayor and police and not a PNC problem.

If you get surplused please post the following info:

Landline or Wireless
Your VP Org
Management or Union
Years of service vs weeks of severance
Did you reject the RTO new location mandate

I'm curious to see if all those claiming union layoffs are correct.

Thank you

It’s because our so-called leadership are all id1ots and completely out of touch with what the average employee does here. For example, they tout the importance and success of meeting-free fridays. Don’t know about you all, but I’m still having meetings on fridays.

And, their justification for meeting-free Fridays is to wallow employees the ability to “connect with colleagues.” First off, the average employee is too busy to just set aside time to “connect” for the sake of connecting. Second, our colleagues are all spread out at different sites so it’s hard to “connect” on a teams call. Third, none of us have our own desks anymore, we have community seating, so even if we work at the same site, none of us even sit in the same area to “connect.” Forth, good luck finding an open area to “connect” in.

Since leadership wanted to try and cover-up their bad real estate deals and are packing us all in to the brim, there are never any conference rooms or lounges available. The other day, I saw two employees working in a focus room meant for one employee. Yeah, it’s getting that bad! Don’t let “leadership” fool you. They are just a bunch of inept employees who either have a piece of paper stating otherwise, got lucky or knew someone already in that “leadership” circle.

I am being let go today at 10am well I think at 10am there is a random meeting with myself and the wonderful people team and my manager set for then. I haven’t been here long , was out of the Boston office told to go to Everett for time being. Only been with company for 4 years, so I’m not too upset. The way they went about it was just unprofessional in my honest take. My grandmother died last year and I will admit I didn’t put In for bereavement right away due to I was very close to her and had to travel to California for services. They got me with failure to meet RTO because I was in fact red for that time period so I guess it’s my own fault. Just to me seems dastardly to get me for that when I’ve gotten all meets or above since I have been here. I told my manager I know it’s not his fault and he apologized but I guess that is how they are doing things now. Just be careful with your days in office or any tiny hang up they can get you on. Wish everyone good luck in finding new jobs away from here.

K.L

At least not that I know of. If the whole ploy of being forced back into the offices to thin out the workforce (we all know that's the real reason) doesn't work out, are we looking at another major round sometime soon? How long are they going to wait to see if their plan is working?

If the answer is yes, did you receive any blowback so far?

Besides basking ridge and hidden ridge, how many people still have offices to report to for GNT? So sub markets still have hub offices? I think it’s ridiculous those that live near office have to go in 3 days week and some people are fully remote (same teams//same roles)

I mean if you were in office before Rona... why is it such a big deal to go back to that?... I understand there were alot of remote workers who started during the covid period and its not feasible but if you did it pre covid then what changed?

I chose freedom over compliance, flexibility over obligation, and peace of mind over RTO. Feeling retired, paycheck intact.

What is the purpose of RTO - just to burn gas, tires, increase car insurance, increase carbon emissions, stuck in traffic - and again on Teams call...

The slavery mind set of the CXO suite is mind blowing

Gas at $5.50/Gallon + Doubled Car Insurance Rate + Kids, Family and the 2+ hours traffic, but a bare minimum salary..this is majority of us 60,000 employees vs. Gunjan and CXO suite making Millions a year,Luxury travel to and fro paid and expesned to the company. They are the to set the RTO policy but do not have to worry or comply it, its the 90% of us who have to bear the brunt.

OUR (60,000 employees) Necessity is the mother of this invention (leave powered locked laptops at work in secret places), given no other company demands or measures Talent and Performance by the Timestamps and not actual delivery or management of aspects. STUPID and DuB GOONjan and CXO suite

Did they change how it’s tracked? Before I recall them just caring about the 8 week average, do they care about weekly average now?

If I go all 5 days this week, and next week I go in once, wouldn’t my weekly average be 3? Or do I need to go in 3 times a week to avoid any complaints or issues?