#remotework

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Baker McKenzie Shuts Tampa Facility, Moves Staff Remote

Baker McKenzie is closing its Tampa back-office location. This action is part of the firm's broader restructuring. The firm is moving to a remote operational model. This change means Tampa-based staff will work remotely. It follows earlier announcements of global staff cuts.

Tampa, Florida

https://abovethelaw.com/2026/03/top-10-biglaw-firm-shuts-down-back-office-location-as-restructuring-and-staff-cuts-continue/


Relocation possible?

I’m currently remote and looking to relocate with my spouse, who just received a great offer in a different city. While the bank doesn't have an office in that specific city, it does operate within that state (the nearest office is about 4 hours away so I will have to continue remote). Has anyone remote (geocode C) successfully made a move like this in the last 3 to 6 months while staying remote?


This full day and 4-day RTO will significantly reduce productivity because:

  1. Folks will spend more time finding available seats
  2. Will spend more time commuting during peak hours
  3. Will log in less at home if 8 hours requirement is met for day.
  4. People may work on different shifts like 6am-2pm vs 9-5 vs 10-6. It’s hard to schedule meeting across different time zones.
    What else?

The Rising Cost of Commuting: Time for a More Flexible Workplace

Many employees today are feeling the pressure of rising living costs. Housing, groceries, and transportation expenses continue to climb, and commuting to work has become an increasingly heavy financial burden for many families.

For this reason, I believe Canon should seriously consider offering greater flexibility when it comes to working from home.

Across different sectors and regions of the world, many companies are already encouraging remote work where possible. This approach helps reduce unnecessary commuting, lowers fuel consumption, and eases the financial strain placed on employees.

In times when global energy markets remain volatile due to geopolitical tensions involving countries like Iran, Israel, and major powers such as the United States, reducing unnecessary travel is not only economically sensible, it is also responsible.

Allowing employees to work from home when their role permits can help reduce commuting costs, decrease fuel consumption, and improve overall work-life balance. It is a practical solution that benefits both employees and employers.

Flexibility in the workplace is no longer simply a perk; it has become an important way to support employees during a time of economic uncertainty and rising costs.


RTO Backfires

Wait being a inflexible employer doesn't get you productivity gains?

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/5775420-remote-first-productivity-growth/

" The Flex Index finds that fully flexible companies grew revenues 1.7 times faster than mandate-driven firms from 2019 to 2024, even after adjusting for industry and size. "


Remote Worker Privilege Abuse

To all you hard working employees,

I have first hand information of a remote CMSA willfully abuser their remote work privileges. This person violates HIPPA on a regular basis, takes well over hour breaks everyday on a every other week basis. I have had their laptop on my lap and seeing member names, being present during meetings, and all the while this employee is driving or at a friend’s house or doing god knows what else. It’s abuse of privileges and that’s obvious. This person manipulates their manager to stay in good graces but in reality if this company laid off anyone, this person in question should be the first to go. So this may sound vindictive but who do I whistleblow to?? Because none of you can justify this kind of behavior.


The RTO Divide: A Year In

It has been a year since the RTO policy and the divide it has created is hard to ignore. Those of us working remote or choosing offices closer to home often feel excluded from decisions, meetings, and the informal networks that keep work flowing. It is isolating and the pressure to play the game just to be seen is real.

Meanwhile, many in-office employees are not thriving either. Badging in, headphones on, fake smiles, people are disconnected, isolated, and going through the motions. There is no real connection and the culture has become draining, even toxic, taking a toll on mental and physical health.

The truth is clear. RTO has not solved productivity or engagement. It has highlighted a disconnect, a tension, and a struggle on both sides. Anyone else experiencing this? How are you navigating it?


RTO policy is stupid

Why would a company that makes money from supplying computers to home workers mandate a policy that returns all worker to return to the office a minimum of 3 days a week?

You would think that, as a computer company, HP would encourage remote working to be an example for other companies to take note on how they can have remote employees too. HP would then continue to have a sales bo-m (like they did in 2020) on laptops to supply workers.

Bottom line, HP wants to justify having large useless buildings by filling them up again with employees.


Article on WFH and poor management practices

Good article from "The Hill" on remote work, flexibility and why mandates just don't work.

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/5775420-remote-first-productivity-growth/

"...Leaders sometimes argue that stricter in-office rules are needed to fix collaboration or innovation. The better path is to raise the bar on management, not badge swipes. The Institute for Corporate Productivity report describes organizations that use “magnet, not mandate” logic, pairing remote-first defaults with intentional gatherings, clear policies and outcome-based performance management. The combination produces high trust, defined norms and sustained results.

The risk profile for mandates is asymmetric. If they fail to lift performance, you absorb morale damage and replacement costs while sending a public signal that policy, not management, is your lever. If they “work,” the effect often comes from short-term pressure rather than durable operating improvements. .."

"...Executives face a choice. They can pursue badge-driven control that fails to raise performance and risks losing their best people, or they can treat flexibility as a strategy, design for trust and clarity, and measure what matters. The organizations that choose the latter are building stronger teams and better businesses. The smart move now is not to roll back flexibility — it is to raise the standard for how you lead..."


You Removed the One Thing That Made This Job Worth It

The one advantage this company always had was flexibility. Even before COVID people weren’t chained to a desk five days a week. That trust made the job sustainable and made people willing to go the extra mile.

Now that flexibility is gone. And with it, the one thing that actually differentiated this place.

Instead of motivating people, a strict five-day RTO mandate has created the exact opposite effect. High performers stop going above and beyond, while mediocre performers can hide behind a badge swipe and eight hours of “presence.” When attendance becomes the metric, you get attendance.

At the same time, compensation here isn’t truly market based. Raises and bonuses are largely blanket treatments, so individual effort barely changes the outcome. When results aren’t meaningfully rewarded and flexibility is taken away, the incentive becomes obvious: do the minimum and check the box.

Meanwhile the industry has already moved on. WFH and hybrid are now the standard across tech, telecom, finance, and most corporate roles. Only a handful of companies are still trying to force strict five-day office mandates. Fighting that reality doesn’t make this place competitive. It just makes it an outlier.

Ignore the market and ignore your own employees long enough and the result is predictable: the best people leave, and the only ones left are the ones with fewer options.


Why force people into the office when the work is still online?

Return to office policies feel disconnected from how many teams actually work now. A lot of teams are spread across different cities and countries. Even when people sit in the same building, most of their meetings are still on video calls. The day ends up looking exactly like a remote workday, except people had to commute to do it.

It creates a strange situation... Now, peeps spend time and money getting to the office just to log into virtual meetings anyway. The actual work process does not change much. Communication tools, documents, and collaboration ALL still happn online. At that point the office becomes more symbolic than practical, and people start questioning what the real purpose of the policy is.


Hubs Based Geographically

Companies that operate with a hub-based workforce model should align their teams geographically rather than scattering small numbers of employees across multiple states. When the majority of a department or function is concentrated in a primary hub, it makes operational, financial, and collaborative sense to place the entire team in that same location instead of maintaining one or two employees in various other states.

First, collaboration and communication improve significantly when teams are centralized. Even in remote environments, employees located within the same region or hub tend to share similar, leadership structures, and workplace culture. When teams are spread out as “one here and two there,” those individuals often become disconnected from the main group, making collaboration less efficient and creating unnecessary communication barriers.

Second, centralizing teams supports stronger leadership and accountability. Managers can more effectively support employees when their teams are structured in a clear and cohesive way. When a handful of employees are placed outside the main hub, they may receive less consistent oversight, mentorship, and integration into team processes. Bringing employees together in the dominant hub location creates clearer reporting structures and stronger team cohesion.

Third, there are cost and operational efficiencies. Supporting employees in multiple states often introduces additional administrative complexity such as payroll compliance, state-specific regulations, and HR management differences. Consolidating teams in the primary hub reduces these complexities and allows resources to be focused where the company already has the strongest infrastructure.

Finally, a hub model should actually function like a hub. The purpose of a hub is to concentrate talent, resources, and collaboration in one central location. Maintaining scattered employees across various states contradicts the very concept of a hub structure and weakens the benefits that such a model is intended to provide.

For these reasons, companies that promote a hub-based workforce strategy should ensure that teams are largely located within the same primary hub rather than distributing small numbers of employees across multiple states where they operate in isolation from the core teams.


Australian state to give employees legal right to work from home - California next ?

The Australian state of Victoria said on ​Wednesday it will launch legislation ‌to give employees the legal right to work from home two days ​per week. The laws, that ​are due to come into effect ⁠on September 1, will allow ​anyone with the ability to work ​from home to do so, regardless of the size of their workplace.
“Work from ​home works for families, because ​it saves time and money and it ‌gets ⁠more parents working,” Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said in a statement.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/australian-state-plans-give-employees-legal-right-work-home-2026-03-04/


Really this bad?

I’m honestly having some regret about taking this job, especially after finding this forum. I wish I had come across these comments before accepting the offer, but here I am. Is it really as bad as people describe?

I started in January and my role is remote, but based on what I’m reading, it sounds like that could change at any time. I also don’t really feel like part of the team yet. I assumed it was just because I’m still new, but now I’m starting to wonder if this is just the culture here.

Is this how most people feel? Is everyone just quietly checked out?


Remotes ARE being trageted for layoffs now..

I've posted about this a few times and get downvoted/laughed at but I'm telling you, full remotes are being targeted now. It was only a matter of time... Dell has made it blatantly clear that they want ALL employees local to an office - as in ALL employees go INTO an office - and that remotes are not eligible for promotions or internal movement. Which puts remotes in a literal dead end job. I 100% guarentee they will cap remotes raises to 2% and 50% bonus's sooner than later, as well.

I had my 1x1 w/ my boss/sr director the other day and I asked what the IBP was. He didn't know for sure but, mentioned he laid off a few people (3) under him and saw the bonus payout for them - which was 100% - but, stated that they were all remotes and that was the primary driving factor for laying them off.

According to what he told me, those 3 were good at their job but was told by higher ups and/or HR to remove 3 remotes that reported to him. I didn't know any of them as they weren't on my team but, long story short.. .they were laid off for being remote.

We have a great relationship with each other so I asked out of curiosity if remotes are being targeted more for layoffs. He didn't say yes or no but in a round about way basically said that yes they are, and has heard from execs that the "plan" is to reduce raises and bonus's for them next year. Basically an attempt to force resignation. Exceptions will likely be made for those who are incredibly vital to an org but otherwise, the plan is to slowly get rid of remotes.

If you are full remote but live near enough to an office, I'd recommend switching your sh-t to in office versus remote... Make the drive or relocate if you value your job because remotes are the ones who will be first to go on teams when layoffs happen.


From the manager's guide for dealing with RTO

Use this guide to help you manage team members who are not meeting the expectations of the office work goal and who are in a hub location. Holding your team members accountable to this goal is one of the expectations of your People Leader Goal. You should seek further guidance from HR Advisory Services (HRAS) if coaching the employee as described in this guide doesn’t result in improvement.

Note: This People Leader resource provides guidance regarding ongoing performance management relating to the office work goal. For information relating to the office work goal in relation to the year-end performance review process, please refer to our Measuring performance: People Leader resource.

Details

As a leader, we trust you to lead your teams with empathy while ensuring you set clear and consistent expectations. Be mindful that the office work goal may be challenging for some. Listen and provide the guidance needed for your team to achieve their office work goal.

U.S.: As a reminder, medical accommodations or flexible work arrangements may be applicable depending on the reason someone is not fulfilling the office work goal.

Europe: For leaders with team members in Europe, approved flexible/remote work arrangements and exceptions may also be applicable depending on the reason someone is not fulfilling the office work goal.

You have access to a dashboard to see how frequently your team members come into the office. This data should be considered, among other factors, when assessing team members’ performance with respect to the office work goal, such as observations of a team member’s work location (in person or via Teams video), vacation, illness, work travel, etc. For more information regarding the dashboard and its metrics, see the people leader resource.

Considerations

When using the dashboard to assess your team member’s in-office work, you are expected to assess the full picture of their performance, collaboration, and in-office presence, including but not limited to the following considerations:

Timing. When was the office work goal in effect for your team member? Because hub transitions are taking place on a rolling basis, team members should only be held accountable to the goal once they have an assigned work location and are directed to work onsite three or more days per week.

Absences. Was your team member on vacation, sick and safe leave (SSL), or an approved leave of absence (continuous or intermittent) during the relevant time period? Don’t count approved absences against your team member.
Note: team members on an approved leave of absence are excluded from the dashboard while on leave.

Work travel. Did your team member travel for business during the relevant time period? Don’t count work travel against your team member, even if they weren’t working from a U.S. Bank location.

Flexible work arrangement (FWA)/reasonable accommodation (U.S.). Did your team member have an approved flexible work arrangement or reasonable accommodation that allows them to work from the office less frequently or not at all during the relevant time? If your team member’s in-office work (or lack thereof) is consistent with an approved FWA or reasonable accommodation, they are meeting their office work goal.
Note: Team members on an approved FWA or remote work reasonable accommodation and their badge swipe data are excluded from the dashboard while the FWA or reasonable accommodation is in effect.

Approved flexible/remote work arrangement or exception (Europe). Did your team member have a flexible/remote work arrangement or exception request approved that allows them to work from the office less frequently or not at all during the relevant period? If your team member’s in-office work (or lack thereof) is in line with such approved requests, they are meeting their office work goal.

Short-term need. Has your team member requested a short-term need to work remotely? You can approve short-term exceptions (up to two weeks) to the office work goal without additional documentation or approval (for example, a mild illness that does not prevent them from working remotely, temporary transportation challenge, other personal issues, etc.).

Other. Was the team member using a temporary badge or are there other reasons the data in the dashboard may not be accurate?