I have worked in remote-first organizations for more than 15 years, mostly at technology companies, both as an individual contributor and a manager. By dint of my role, I also get to meet with companies of all different sizes all over the country and see companies who are fully remote, hybrid, and fully on-premise. I have literally talked with hundreds of companies across the world and got to observe the differences.<p>There are some leaders who simply can't function in a remote environment. However, this is a flaw of their leadership and the organizational culture, not a problem with employees or their preferences. It is a problem with personal fear, inflexibility, and lack of vision more than anything else. My experience is that the older people are and the longer they have worked at a company, the more issues they have with remote work.<p>We proved during COVID that we can function just fine remotely. It benefits the employees in a hundred different ways. An organization that wants people to come to work at their detriment is one that doesn't value their people, and this is how they are expressing it.
Who thought a video like this was a good idea? If you "aren't asking or negotiating at this point", why aren't first-level managers just telling employees to get back into the office or find another job?
As it's not clear from the title, it's this company: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Brands" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Brands</a> (most famous brand: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebMD" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebMD</a>). They operate "online media, community, e-commerce, and SaaS businesses" but don't seem to believe in it that much.
Personally, having worked remotely since 2014, I feel quite secure in the fact the remote work is here long term.<p>The economics of it make sense on both sides (Office costs, salary costs, commutes, hiring pool access)<p>And the organization impacts work well (for knowledge based businesses) if Leadership is able to adapt to measuring outputs instead of inputs and fostering clarity of goals.
Companies trying to work like it’s the 1990s will become defunct in the coming decades. Being able to work remotely is a skill. Those unable to do so and companies implementing blanket policies to return to office are fossils in a digital age.<p>I finish work in 1-2 hrs. With RTO, I finish work within 4-5 hrs. Combine this with a physical commute.<p>Constant breaks in attention. People just asking stupid shit irl when it’s clearly documented online. The cOlLaBorRaTiOn is really just micromanaging issues projected onto us.<p>Oh and let’s not forget the exposure to your virus of the week/month from people with kids in school or daycare!<p>Just another deadass company and one that I will never directly work for
More like "quit now so we don't have to lay you off soon and pay benefits/severance/unemployment"<p>Related: has any contested RTO on a disability basis?
The video seems fine to me:<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/866052086/7d7781e9ea" rel="nofollow">https://vimeo.com/866052086/7d7781e9ea</a><p>The tag line at the end could be interpreted different ways and is slightly awkward, but not enough that I'd give it a second thought.<p>IMHO this article is just people yet again trying flex the power of shame and contempt, against something they dislike (returning to in-person work). Before you join in, just watch the video!
So still no good reason to go back to the office from what those managers said. Only inept statements like "we are better together" and so on.
This isn't even all the cringe. My partner works remotely for WebMD. Their managers didn't even know about this "directive" before they released the video. The managers were as shocked as all the regular employees.<p>Oh and additionally, they've been running at less than a skeleton crew for the last couple years. Choosing to hire overseas contractors that can't due the full job due to HIPPA requirements. They are trying to get people to quit so they don't have to pay severance.
Is there any actual data on this? I'm yet to see executives back up these requests with evidence of their claims. It's a thinly veiled way of driving "unregretted attrition" without having to announce layoffs.<p>The great thing about free markets however is that companies that offer remote working have a great competitive advantage by virtue of that alone.
My friend works for the company -- and it turns out they closed down 2 offices in NY and built the one in Newark which no one wants to go to - and charge you 30$ a day for parking. And now -- this video...
Article links to this public video: <a href="https://vimeo.com/866052086/7d7781e9ea" rel="nofollow">https://vimeo.com/866052086/7d7781e9ea</a>
These return to office movements pair suspiciously well with the recent layoffs, but with a smarter touch and a little more forethought. Bravo, so it looks like this strategy works, but at what cost?
This is quite literally the dumbest thing I've seen all day and an insult to anyone with half a brain cell.<p>I would quit over just the existence of this video if it had been authored by the company I work at.
"Come back or else! Management roles are at stake!" This video is coping mechanism for managers who just realized employees work better without them.
This is going to be a sore point for all workplaces going forward. Naturally each company is different, but from my experience, I have worked for years in a manufacturing company and I personally know people who will jump on remote work only to st around watching netflix all day. These folks have to be reminded daily what their job is and will find any excuse to not work. On the flip side You also have conscientious people (often knowledge workers) who want remote work to save on commute time and distractions, and who will actually have increased productivity working remotely. I believe there is room for multiple opinions without demonizing either side.
My first thought was WebMD is a shitty pseudo-health company that promulgates marginally useless, borderline misinformation with an air of overconfidence and unearned certainty so I don't think anyone would be too proud to work for them except CEO guy.<p>My second thought was their CEO looks like someone named Chester who isn't legally allowed near children.<p>My third thought was they made the finals of weird videos to be mocked on Last Week Tonight when it comes back in February.<p>Conclusion: They jumped their own shark in a way Elon would find difficult to attain so I don't think anyone good would want to RTO to work for them anyhow.
"eh, this isn't <i>so bad</i>, heavy handed use of the fact they're not negotiating apparently but fair enough"<p>*CEO stops talking... extremely cringe workers dancing with a greenscreen backdrop... google meet "no one else is here; because we are all in person now!" and... their interpretation of the lyrics to the background song*.<p>Wow. What a close, awful.<p>Truly awful.<p>--<p>However to defend them a little, I personally have noticed that the people who routinely come to the office tend to be better informed and have more realistic expectations of what is possible.<p>It's true that being in-person can paper over communication gaps, and you can argue that those gaps shouldn't exist; but they do. Additionally, while I <i>am</i> CTO of a <i>remote-first</i> company there starts becoming a knowledge and culture imbalance with the people who are capable of going to the office from time-to-time.<p>It's also true that we need a lot of positive interactions as humans, and we tend to have micro-positive interactions more often in person, usually when we reach out to someone over text chat or have a meeting it's somewhat negative. My psychologist once told me it takes 9 good interactions to offset 1 bad one, which is probably not grounded in science but I think the proportions are something like that; and it seems like we are more prone to communicate more often negatively if there is any friction in making that communication.<p>I would like us to have some form of strongly flexible work, but I am not certain that this is possible... it's essentially "worst of both worlds" where we have an expensive office that is barely used <i>and</i> people can't live where they really want to.<p>I guess co-working is the way to solve the former, but it doesn't help with the latter. Though co-working spaces can be as expensive for 1 week as taking a whole month anyway. :(
Based on the message of the video I would have to guess that the video was created by folks working at home. They might have wanted to get the video done in office for better results. ;^)<p>Sarcasm aside, capitalism at work, really nothing to see here. They'll lose employees from the demand to work in office for the various reasons, and maybe it'll affect their bottom line, and maybe they'll learn some lessons. Or maybe they whither by not moving with the times. The websites they create are nothing that couldn't be lost.