#remotework

Last year, all of the remote employees in my department were told they need to move to OH or MN , if they decide not to relocate, they were given severance.

They also were not given option to move to hub that were close to home such as in AZ or TX.

We replaced all the remote employees by hiring in OH and MN.

Also recently, I talked to people in another department and they were told remote was no longer available, move to hub or get severance.

So GK was right when she said remote was grandfathered, meaning you aren’t getting fired.

What she didn’t tell you was, to keep your job, you need to move to a hub.
Being in office is not good enough, must be in one of the hub

Sick of all the complaining about RTO as though it's somehow outrageous for a company to ask employees to work the way they were originally hired to work.

Companies are generally entitled to make reasonable changes to how work is performed. They can reasonably change your responsibilities, raise performance expectations, require compliance with workplace policies, and require employees to work from the office if that's what they believe is best for the business.

You don't have to agree with that philosophy, and it's perfectly reasonable to prefer remote work. But framing every RTO decision as the product of greedy executives or some malicious agenda ignores the fact that businesses make these decisions for a variety of reasons. Most companies would rather adopt policies that are popular with employees. When they see that a particular arrangement isn't delivering the results they expected -or isn't worth the cost- they change course.

In MN's case, employees are relatively expensive compared with many other locations. One of the main reasons those roles were based in MN was proximity to the company's headquarters and leadership. If employees are rarely in the office, that advantage is essentially gone. At that point, it's fair to ask why the company should continue paying MN labor costs instead of hiring elsewhere.

You may disagree with the decision, but it's not irrational. It's a business judgment about cost, collaboration, and the purpose of maintaining a headquarters workforce.

If in-office work is a condition of employment, your choices are to accept it, negotiate, or find another job. You'll be happier than complaining on here constantly.

That's not cruelty-it's how employment works.

While the bank is seemingly pursuing a direction where employees must return to an office for 60%+ of their time, during today's All Company Townhall CEO Gunjan Kedia announced that remote employees are "grandfathered in". It is unclear the extent of this decision from the leader of the 5th largest bank in the country, and whether employees who were remote but have since been forced into an office in conflict with their own wishes will have the option to return to remote work.

Many employees have been speculating that groups within the company will begin forcing remote employees to pick a home hub location or face termination with cause by end of this year. Will this new direction from the CEO help assuage these fears? Kedia very clearly outlined that remote roles are no longer being hired for with the exception of Customer Service representatives, which apparently is cost effective enough for the bank that the Managing Committee couldn't be bothered to upset these employees lives for the sake of their own commercial real estate investments.

Kedia was also proud to note that the bank is continuing to honor remote employees who have a legitimate medical accommodation, but did not note that this is a legal requirement under the ADA.

https://www.reddit.com/r/USbank/comments/1v4lw50/us_bank_ceo_gunjan_kedia_announced_remote/

Pretty much…if you don’t like it, leave.

I’m working on that, Gunjan, don’t worry.

It’s clear if you are remote or not in one of the main hubs, there is no longer any growth for you. They want you to leave.

So disheartening after years of dedicated work to just feel like I’m being pushed out!

If that is even true. I know you people don't want a two class society at USBank but leadership caused this mess. If remote employees can be grandfathered then past employees should have been given a route to become remote too.

Gunjan just said that remote employees are being grandfathered in. Can we please stop the fear mongering now?

It’s interesting to see hiring leaders into high-level roles with fully remote. Is this acceptable?

A Very Simple Plan to Reset AT&T

1. Cancel the new HQ project and redirect that capital toward the things that actually matter. Use a portion of those savings to fund a responsible workforce transition and right-size the company for the future.

2. Give employees a choice. Offer virtual status to roles that can be done remotely, and provide location incentives for those who choose to work in-office or whose roles require it. Stop treating every employee the same and start managing based on outcomes.

3. Get aggressive on debt reduction while prioritizing fiber expansion, network investment, and the technology needed to compete.

4. Restore trust with employees, rebuild the culture, and focus everyone on winning instead of compliance.

AT&T doesn’t need more buildings, more bureaucracy, or more policies measuring where people sit. It needs a clear strategy, disciplined capital allocation, and a workforce focused on innovation.

The market rewards companies that make hard decisions and invest in the future. Get the strategy right, and the stock will take care of itself.

Just let go a lot of small business Specialist and the ones they are keeping are called something else now. That entire role is going virtual in the future...just FYI. For now they are thinning the herd.

Any word on count, departments, in person vs. remote, etc.?

Wanted to let folks know. I'm in the bay area. i just scored a fully remote job that pays about 25%. No more badge swipes for me. Life is about to get very good for me, planning to do some airbnb and travel overseas. Friday i'm going to drop the news on my boss.

Finally received my 60 day non-working notice from Wells Fargo update after a Business Update meeting in Microsoft Teams. Super excited to be moving on! Glad I stuck around in Fraud (continued working remotely) after the Relocation Strategy email from corporate in February 2024 warning of these layoffs in the future. Delay after delay in DTFR, disorganized upper managers pushing out the date further and further. Prevent AI to date was a flop (but who cares anyways). Today I am happy to announce, I am done with Wells Fargo officially. What a ride it has been! Time to collect my hard earn money while I go on vacation and sip a Colada! Cheers!!!!!!!!!

Those who work remote have the same title and job duties, but the rejection said “after reviewing your job responsibilities, we’ve decided we cannot accommodate remote work at this time.” I submitted with a doctor’s note explaining the condition and reasoning for the (temporary! Not even permanent, it said temporary) accommodation request, and it was denied. HR never even called me to talk about it, they just read the forms and denied it, which makes me think they’re just denying all of them. Anyone else have this experience?

Anyone hear what's going on with the RTO for remote people?

Whether a role can be performed effectively from home ultimately depends on the nature of the work itself.
In many cases, remote employees go above and beyond compared to their in-office counterparts. For example, when meetings are scheduled at 6:30 a.m., remote employees are generally expected to be online and fully engaged. This is particularly common for employees based on the West Coast who report to leadership teams on the East Coast. Remote employees also put more hours in work on an average.

Ironically, employees working from the office often benefit from greater visibility and more opportunities for informal interactions with leadership. Remote employees, on the other hand, frequently contend with the classic "out of sight, out of mind" challenge, which can impact recognition and career progression despite strong performance.

We certainly have skill issues, but attributing those issues to remote work misses the mark. The root causes lie elsewhere, and remote work is not the driving factor behind them.
If we're being objective, some of the weakest performers are sitting in Franklin Lakes, which makes it difficult to argue that location is the root cause of the problem.

Bumped from @fv+1kvtn2txr.

With so many office buildings sitting half empty, it raises an interesting question:

What if companies sold some of their real estate and embraced a truly virtual workforce?

Many offices already feel sparse, with some departments coming in fewer days than company policy requires. Meanwhile, businesses continue paying for office space, utilities, maintenance, security and other overhead costs.

Could those savings be better invested in employees, technology, innovation, or customer experience instead?

Remote work isn’t the right fit for every role, but for many positions, the traditional office footprint may no longer make financial sense.

Not sure where else to ask this, so will do it here. Curious what RTO looks like for different groups across T-Mo. I have a feeling it is not being applied consistently across different organizations. If you reply, please state days per week you are required to be in the office and what organization you are in.

A couple months ago, they made most of our building be fully remote (my entire team is with the optional monthly visit)

Should’ve realized this was the reason, as I just got the call and I am now out.

How fu---d are we?

My son had a minor asthma attack tonight. In Minneapolis, we've been advised to shut windows, turn off air conditioners so that we can breathe inside our own homes and avoid going outside. The heat index is expected to be in the upper 90's tomorrow. The current air quality index is 520 (hazardous). Downtown parking is limited and taking public transportation requires standing outside, waiting for the bus/lightrail and the walking several blocks to get to the office.

It's incredible to me that we have had to normalize and navigate new infectious pathogens, violent government occupations of our cities and global warming events such as this and yet the MC requires us to strictly adhere to 1990's style work requirements.

I've been following the rules. I dress business casual, take the bus downtown or pay $20 a day for parking, walk a few blocks and then I sit alone and interact with no one except the clerk at the nearby coffee shop for the entire time I'm there. I don't work with a single person at my hub. And I work in STEM, so there's no reason whatsoever for me to be there if none of my coworkers are there. The time, effort and money it costs me to go sit by myself, under florescent lights in a mostly empty office space feels at the very least absurd and at most, intentionally cruel.

I already know the MC won't address this or show that they care in any way. This might be the last straw for me. I can't take one more obstacle in the way of simply doing the job I was hired to do. I'm a single parent, the air outside is hazardous and I'm currently stressing about meeting my RTO metrics for July. This is beyond stupid. It's malicious.

A supervisor is already training contractors from India. She also included that December will be the last month for any remote employees left in the Mortgage Center. So we shall see.

So, a position that was once totally remote, now requires us to go on site multiple times a week. We reallyr had no choice. The clinics are as far as three hours away. We were just told this is what we will have to do now. Has this happened to anyone else? This began happening a few weeks before the vsp announcement but now it is a requirement.

With today's announcement of four days in office, it's time for some of us to leave. Has anyone had luck finding remote positions?

Enhanced severance for legacy DFS ends at the end of Q2 2027. From what I have read, the legacy severance plan pays the same regardless if reason is restructuring or poor performance. Regular COF severance for poor performance is only 12 weeks. So do we all try to get low ratings/put on PIPs during annual review cycle? I’m trying to hold onto hope I will be laid off because I also happen to be remote, but every day I hate my job and this company more and more 🫩

It got corrected

A federal judge has issued an injunction preventing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from proceeding with layoffs. These layoffs specifically targeted employees working remotely or in telework arrangements. The injunction was granted following a lawsuit filed by affected workers. The court's decision temporarily halts the agency's plan to bring these employees back to Washington D.C. or terminate their employment. Further legal proceedings will determine the ultimate outcome for these CFPB staff members.

Washington, D.C.

https://www.wusa9.com/video/news/politics/federal-fallout/federal-injunction-blocks-cfpb-layoffs/65-77d0cc00-0855-45cc-be8e-b101d7cec4b1

No more rumors

Former tech manager here. Had dinner with my old boss last night, he's retiring soon so he said he doesn't care if I let the cat out of the bag. Basically if you are remote and choose not to move to a hub, the plan is to fire you during Q4. Jobs will be shifted to USBI or hubs. The only remote employees that will be allowed to stay will require direct approval from the MC so it's out of your boss even your SVP's hands. He said they hope to sc--w you out of your severance too because you're volunteering to leave instead of taking the job offered to you 6 hours away. If you're not moving...start looking. There are still opportunities at other companies that are remote especially for senior or higher roles.

I wonder how many of us will institute personal boundaries when we go back 100% in September? I will not be working remotely at all - this means I won't be doing anything outside of 9 AM - 5 PM EST. If you can't be flexible with me, then I am not going to be flexible with you Fidelity. Why should I be getting up early to have a meeting with offshore, struggling to get my kids on the bus, and then have a long commute just to take calls with people on zoom?

What are some unhinged things you get away with when working remote? Something on the keypad to keep you active on teams? Never opening teams/ email all day? Taking a maternity leave every year?
For those who have quiet quitted drop your tips below

I joined FDC back in 2016 in Omaha and took a low ball salary because it was nowhere and I had to stay in there for family. FDC got my super prof service at a low price comparing to other locations in Atlanta, or NYC, etc. In 2020 during Pandemic I moved to another state in MW and was able to work remotely. However, right after Covid, Mr Frank ordered RTO and I said goodbye to this company and quickly landed another remote work with a 40% pay increase offer - I didn't even bargain. I guess many people leaving FISV were in the same situation. I didn't specifically shop for other jobs as my family didn't need that much of my salary - I was just keeping myself busy. but thanks Mr Frank you made me make the right move. Now I landed another hybrid job in yet another state and got another 20% raise. lol. Fisv may never figure out why their stock su-ks so much. BTW, I sold all my employee stock at around $100 when I parted.

Are most Centene employees working from home right now, or in the office?

If you had to transition back to the office after a period of remote work, how was that adjustment?

Why some people are still virtual?

I thought remote positions were gone for good? I keep hearing people becoming remote that live, in my opinion, a commutable distance from the office.

How are these people getting remote approval?

I’m a remote tm in properties and I’m curious if there’s been any RTO coming that would impact me

After reading through the RMC business line thread, the upcoming Tech all staff call on Friday the 17th with its provide strategic updates and offer other important and timely news you need to know sounds ominous. They will probably give out the hubs that all remote employees will need to relocate into and talk about the second GCC coming up in Hyderabad. Anyone know anything?

• Stopped using Scrum @ Scale and reorganized teams → "industry-wide" TDD initiative.
• Continuous release date slippage → mandatory weekend work.
• Core Shanghai teams axed with little to no notice → work shifted to other geos; quality suffered
• AI must be used X hours per day & new work requires AI readable specs or out - Project Maverick
• On site junior engineers welcome; remote senior years get the boot

Despite these changes, little is being done to address the fundamental issues within the product development process at its core: Isilon OneFS has been in maintenance mode for over a decade. AI spending extended product life support temporarily, but this shift to layoff remote US staff truly signals the end of the product.

Why are they wasting peoples time? Now that the cat is out of the bag and remote employees and Employees not in the same hub as their team are being targeted for future layoffs, why do they torture us and the Manager by having mid year?

Just give us our severance so we can move on with our life. Tired of this so bleed

What's going on? When will the announcement happen?