The hidden consequence of the return-to-office crackdown — more workers will lose their jobs
Johner Images via Getty Images
- Don't want to go back to the office? Prepare to lose your job.
- That's the message from bosses in Silicon Valley and Wall Street.
- The push to get workers back to offices could put millions of jobs at risk if people don't comply.
It's starting to look like the cruelest summer for millions of workers as they either reluctantly wave goodbye to sunny freedom — or risk incurring the wrath of their managers.
From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, employers are preparing to be unforgiving, mean-spirited, and downright vindictive with any workers planning on getting in the way of their great return-to-office crackdown, which looks set to culminate just after Labor Day.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, millions of white-collar Americans have come to expect remote work as a given in their working lives. They operate on the basis that employers trust they'll get their work done in their own space while juggling childcare, errands, and the odd lunchtime workout.
Sure, more workers have started to return to offices in some capacity, but that has not been the result of severe compulsion or because remote work has fallen out of favor.
In fact, a monthly survey conducted by Stanford University, the University of Chicago, MIT, and the ITAM University in Mexico found US residents enjoyed more than 30% of their paid full days at home in July, signaling the persistence of remote work more than three years after the pandemic started.
But it seems like employers have had enough.
New mandates to get workers back into the office are becoming more aggressive in the face of an economic downturn that has rattled CEOs grappling with high interest rates, the threat of AI, a growing tilt towards protectionism, and more.
Failure to comply with these mandates now seems to mean one thing: getting fired. In other words, the return-to-office drive is about to enter its perilous endgame.
Return-to-office ultimatums are here
Take a look at Mark Zuckerberg's Meta. Last week, it emerged that Meta was making its return-to-office rules harsher after Lori Goler, head of human resources, told employees who are "assigned to an office" that they would need to work in an office three days a week.
Refusal to meet these new requirements bear consequences. "As with other company policies, repeated violations may result in disciplinary action, up to and including a performance rating drop and, ultimately, termination if not addressed," Goler wrote in an internal forum.
What makes this even more difficult to swallow for Meta employees is just how quickly Meta's tone has changed.
In June, they were informed about the need to come into the office three days a week from September 5, per The Information. What they weren't informed of was just how drastic the consequences would be if they struggled to meet the new requirements.
Amazon is making a similar play to Meta, with a return-to-office strategy that involves scare tactics. Last month, Insider reported Amazon would impose a "voluntary resignation" on any employee who refused to relocate to be close to one of Amazon's office hubs.
It follows CEO Andy Jassy's announcement earlier this year to bring workers back to the office at least three days per week under the premise that "learning from one another is easier in-person."
Over on the East Coast, Wall Street bosses seem even more angsty as they face pressure to bring dealmaking back to life after a prolonged drought. One hedge-fund manager told Insider's Linette Lopez, "absolutely everyone will have their asses back at their desks by this fall."
The new level of pushiness from bosses is prompting some inevitable backlash. In Amazon's case, employees have taken to mocking the company's leadership principles, with one disgruntled worker suggesting the behavior now expected of them is "disagree and comply."
On the street, finance chiefs may find their aggression triggers a wave of resignations: a survey conducted by Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence in April this year found 66% of employees in financial services jobs said they would quit if they had to return to an office five days a week.
It's clear that things are about to get messy. But since few people can afford to be out of a job right now, employers may get their way.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/DaAWkJY
No comments