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☆ Bring Office Cubicles Back; Improve Employee Productivity, Hybrid Work
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Kelli María Korducki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

In a memorable montage from the 1999 workplace satire "Office Space," Peter Gibbons, a fed-up office drone, decides to take a stand. For years, the office cubicle was the four-walled avatar of corporate disaffection. Late '90s films like "Office Space," "Fight Club," and "The Matrix" enshrined its detested status. The tech boom arrived, bringing with it open office plans and a Silicon Valley-led gloss of egalitarianism, epitomized by Google's high-profile headquarters redesign in 2005. The top comment on the "Office Space" cubicle clip on YouTube captures the irony of this shift: "I would have killed for a cubicle," the commenter wrote.

Persons: Peter Gibbons, Google's, weren't, Nikil Saval, Slack, hasn't, Joseph Country, Heather Chapman, Chapman, Sydney Baker, there's, Baker, Thomas Roulet, Roulet, somethings, it's, Kevin Kelley, Shook Kelley, Kelley, cubicles, hewing Organizations: Toyota Corolla, Porsche, Workers, YouTube, Research, Harvard Business School, Environmental Psychology, University of Cambridge Locations: Silicon, Michigan, Louisville , Kentucky, —, Charlotte , North Carolina

☆ The CEO 'return to office or else' is having limited success in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

This past week alone, Boeing and UPS called workers back to the office five days a week. A survey by the Conference Board found few U.S. CEOs saying they will prioritize bringing workers back to the office full time in the year ahead. Jotform, an online form-building platform with about 660 team members, recently made the decision to require employees to be in the office five days a week. A December Resume Builder poll of 800 business leaders found that 8 in 10 companies will track employee office attendance in 2024. In some cases, companies are also finding it difficult to crack down on lower-level employees because higher-ups also aren't complying.

Persons: it's, Elliott Sprecher, Morgan Chase, Davis Polk, What's, Laura Putnam, Henry Nothhaft, Betsy Henning, Finn, Putnam Organizations: Boeing, UPS, Conference Board, IBM, Google, Skadden, Finn Partners Locations: Slate, RTO

☆ Thousands of employees at tech giant SAP signed a petition saying they feel 'betrayed' by the company's 'radical' return-to-office U-turn
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Employees at the German software giant SAP are revolting against its return to office policies. Thousands of staff signed an internal letter that said they were "betrayed" by the firm's "radical" pivot. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementGerman software giant SAP recently announced a return to office mandate, which has been met with backlash by thousands of employees, Bloomberg reported Wednesday . Over 5,000 SAP employees have signed a letter posted internally — and viewed by Bloomberg — criticizing the company's RTO policies and have threatened to quit as a result.

Persons: —, Bloomberg — Organizations: SAP, SAP's, Service, Bloomberg, Works Council, Business

☆ Top workers are more likely to want to quit when companies have strict return-to-office mandates
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Top workers are 16% less likely to want to stay in a job when an employer is strict on office days. A firm return-to-office mandate can also put off workers in general, according to Gartner. AdvertisementIf you're a star at work but your boss makes you head into the office, you're more likely to start hunting for a new gig. Research from Gartner indicates that high-performing workers are 16% less inclined to stay in their jobs when employers roll out strict return-to-office mandates. "What leaders often get wrong is thinking that employees are just trying to do less work or get more out of their companies," Duffy said.

Persons: —, Gartner, Caitlin Duffy, Duffy, they're, millennials, Gartner, there's, Zers, they've Organizations: Gartner, Service, Research, UPS, Workers, Employees

☆ EY is tracking staff office attendance with 'turnstile access' data, as some teams disregard RTO mandates
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewConsulting giant EY is keeping track of how often staff attend its offices through turnstile access data as some teams disregard its return to office policies in the UK, the Financial Times reported first. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. One person told the FT that some partners are being shown data that connects office attendance to mid-year performance ratings. Similarly, JPMorgan required employees to return to its office three to five days a week, depending on seniority. EY declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

Persons: —, Kevin Ellis, PWC, EY Organizations: Service, Financial Times, Business, Partners, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Economic

☆ Return-to-office mandates aren't making companies more valuable and productive, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

That's according to a new paper that looks at how RTO mandates impact productivity and performance. If RTO mandates are hard to enforce, they probably don't make sense for that workplace. RTO mandates were more common for firms with "male and powerful CEOs." The authors found no significant impact of RTO mandates on stock returns or firm profitability. RTO mandates have divided many offices nationwide, including at leading tech and financial companies.

Persons: —, Nick Bloom, RTO, Bloom, Danielle Organizations: Service, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Amazon, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Stanford, The Conference Board Locations: Glassdoor

☆ Remote employees are more likely to be laid off than in-office peers — but they quit more, too
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Remote workers are 35% more likely to be fired than their peers, The Wall Street Journal reported. At the same time, those who work from home are also more likely to quit their jobs, per The Journal. The analysis, conducted by employment data provider Live Data Technologies, found fully remote employees are laid off 35% more often than their peers who work in-office or hybrid roles, The Wall Street Journal reported. AdvertisementThough more likely to be laid off, remote employees — who see flexible work as equivalent to an 8% raise — are also more likely to quit. The analysis cited by The Journal found that 12% of remote workers quit their jobs in 2023 and began a new role within two months, compared to 9% of hybrid and in-office employees.

Persons: —, Andy Challenger, Danielle Organizations: Street Journal, Service, Technologies, University of Pittsburgh, Challenger, The

☆ Some Amazon employees discuss unionizing over the company's return-to-office mandate
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewA small number of Amazon employees are discussing unionizing over the company's return-to-office policy. AdvertisementAmazon's RTO policy is unusually strict. Some Amazon employees recently took to the Slack channel to announce their resignations specifically over the return-to-hub policy. "Tomorrow is my last day at Amazon," one of the employees wrote in December. Unionization among corporate tech employees is rare.

Persons: —, RTO, Ashley Stewart Organizations: Service, Business, Amazon, Amazonians Locations: Staten Island

☆ Bank of America sends letters threatening 'disciplinary action' to employees who aren't coming into the office
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bank of America is issuing warning letters to workers who aren't coming into the office. The bank has been sending letters to correct workplace attendance since late 2023. In its latest effort to herd its employees back to the office, Bank of America has been sending out warning letters it's calling "letters of education" to those who haven't been turning for work. AdvertisementSince October 2022, Bank of America has been requiring the majority of its employees to come into the office at least three days a week. In April of last year, JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon mandated the firm's top executives to come into the office five days a week.

Persons: —, haven't, Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley's, James Gorman, Nick Bloom Organizations: of America, Wall, Service, Bank of America, Financial Times, Business, Workers, BI, Stanford

☆ It looks like remote workers are getting the boot once again
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A bunch of executives at e-commerce firm Wayfair singled out remote workers as the ones who were more likely to have been laid off in a fresh round of cuts, The Wall Street Journal. The targeting of remote workers will come as little surprise for many, given the ugly battle that's been raging over remote work in recent months. Some bosses such as Elon Musk have disparaged remote workers as lazy members of the "laptop classes living in la la land," and called out the practice as "morally wrong." However, the Wayfair layoffs are a reminder that remote workers are in grave danger if their managers don't believe they're putting in the hours away from the office. Many remote workers will be feeling more vulnerable than ever.

Persons: —, Wayfair, Niraj Shah, Shah, Elon Musk, Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, Ken Griffin Organizations: Service, Street, Business, Elon, Meta, Google, eBay, Billionaire, Citadel Locations: la la

☆ 10 companies that will let you work from anywhere and are hiring right now—some jobs pay over $100,000
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Companies in the marketing, education and gaming sectors are also hiring for more remote, flexible roles, FlexJobs lead career expert Toni Frana tells CNBC Make It. FlexJobs has identified the top companies hiring for work-from-anywhere jobs in 2024 by analyzing its database and seeing which companies had the highest volume of remote, location-flexible job postings between January and December 2023. All of the companies included in FlexJobs' ranking offer full-time or part-time remote jobs that don't have a location restriction and require no time in the office. Many work-from-anywhere jobs offer salaries well over $100,000. Check out:The biggest change coming to remote work and RTO in 2024, according to a tech CEO

Persons: FlexJobs, Toni Frana, Frana, that's Organizations: FlexJobs, Companies, CNBC, Technologies, Chainlink Labs, Wikimedia Foundation, Invisible Technologies

☆ The biggest change coming to remote work and RTO in 2024, according to a tech CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In just five years, remote work has gone from a fringe benefit to a sought-after privilege people are competing for. The demand for remote jobs continues to outstrip supply: As of December 2023, remote jobs made up less than 10% of postings advertised on LinkedIn, down from a high of 20.6% in March 2022 — even though close to half of jobseekers prefer remote roles. Remote jobs won't disappear entirely, even if some become harder to find, Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar tells CNBC Make It. The Australian software company adopted a "Team Anywhere" policy in 2020 that allows employees to choose between remote, in-person or hybrid work. Instead, Farquhar says the biggest change we'll see to remote work in 2024 is companies introducing stricter, more permanent guardrails around their remote or hybrid work arrangements.

Persons: —, Atlassian, Scott Farquhar, Farquhar Organizations: LinkedIn, CNBC Locations: Australian

☆ Amazon employees fear increased 'quiet firing' tactics and a 'brain drain'
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Eugene Kim | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Silent sacking, Garrison told BI, "is how Amazon is going to reduce operational costs without negatively affecting the stock price. Some Amazon employees recently took to Slack to announce their resignations specifically over the return-to-hub policy. Another AWS employee told BI they feel like they are "doing the job of three people." Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue," the Amazon spokesperson said. Are you an Amazon employee or do you have insight to share?

Persons: they're, Justin Garrison, Garrison, wasn't, URA, hasn't, that's, Slack, RTO, we'd, They've Organizations: Service, Amazon, Business, BI, Amazon Web Services

☆ Remote Work Hurts Innovation Among Work Teams, Massive New Study Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-19 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Now, though, a massive new study published in the journal Nature has shed new light on the effect of remote work on innovation. Even though remote work is a relatively new development in corporate settings, scientists and inventors have been collaborating over long distances for decades. On remote teams, by contrast, the more established collaborators tended to come up with the original idea on their own. And just because remote collaboration didn't work for innovation in the past doesn't necessarily mean it won't work in the future. But the study's findings — given the remarkable sweep of the data it examined — do suggest some guidance for companies in the age of remote work.

Persons: haven't, Carl Benedikt Frey, Frey, Watson, Crick's, they'll, who's, Slack, you'll, we're, Aki Ito Organizations: Netflix, Oxford University, University of Pittsburgh pored, Oxford, Duke University, Business Locations: Silicon Valley

☆ How bosses keep track of your attendance at the office, from under-desk sensors to badge swipes
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-12 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Return-to-office plans put renewed attention on these tactics, which range from badge swipes to various sensors. Here are the most popular ways employers track office utilization, according to a new survey from EY. With heightened focus on hauling workers back to the office, companies are deploying more "bossware" technologies to monitor compliance with RTO mandates. AdvertisementEY's survey asked respondents, "How are you currently collecting data to maximize and optimize your office space?" It's no secret some companies use their office attendance findings to discipline or fire workers refusing to go back to the office.

Persons: —, EY, Francisco Acoba, what's, Acoba Organizations: Service, EY's, Real Estate Consulting, Technology, Bluetooth Low Energy

☆ There's an uptick in Amazon employees quitting right now, blaming a strict RTO mandate, layoffs, and 'lack of respect'
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some Amazon employees have noticed an increasing number of Slack messages lately from colleagues who are quitting over the company's strict return-to-office mandate. Many Amazon employees received deadlines for starting to work in offices and the uptick in departures may be related to teams nearing those various deadlines. "This [is] my last day at Amazon," another AWS employee wrote on Friday. However, BI has asked the company for comment on its RTO policy many times in recent months. "Tomorrow is my last day at Amazon," one Amazon employee wrote on Thursday.

Persons: Slack, RTO, Merritt Baer, Brad Glasser, there's, we've, Ashley Stewart Organizations: Business, Amazon, Web Services, BI Locations: RTO

☆ A major CEO backer of the remote office model concedes one big work from home failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Deborah Kong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Sallie Krawcheck, CEO of Ellevest, an investment and financial literacy platform for women, has been a vocal advocate for remote work. The various benefits — lower fixed costs, a larger talent pool, and added flexibility for women and under-represented groups — factor into why Ellevest has remained fully remote since the pandemic. Not many people do it, and you can't run into each other at the coffee machine when you're on Zoom," Krawcheck said. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has referred to remote work as "an aberration." Meta , which vocally embraced fully remote work, now has many employees back three days a week.

Persons: It's, Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevest, Krawcheck, Merrill Lynch, Jamie Dimon, Dimon, Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, Sam Altman, Nicholas Bloom, Covid, Bloom Organizations: Amazon, Google, CNBC Workforce, Citigroup, Wall, Cisco, Microsoft, Stanford Locations: New York City

☆ At VMware, 'change' and 'uncertainty' loom after its $69 billion acquisition by Broadcom, which left customers on edge
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Under Broadcom, VMware will operate in four divisions, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan told employees last week in an email. Competitors swoop inNow that Broadcom has acquired VMware, competitors, and partners see a big opportunity to win over VMware customers. VMware customers had already been concerned that Broadcom ownership may hurt innovation and cause a talent exodus , while VMware slowed down customer deals, BI previously reported. He said he has heard from VMware customers that they're "really concerned" and that Broadcom is "confirming the worst fears" customers have about the acquisition. VMware layoffsBroadcom conducted layoffs of VMware employees on Monday.

Persons: It's, it's, Hock Tan, Hock, Nutanix, Rajiv Ramaswami, they've, Ramaswami, Bryan Cantrill, Cantrill, they'll, what's, Tan, he'll, Hock E, Tan Lucas Jackson, Raghu Raghuram Organizations: Broadcom, VMware, Business, EMC, Dell, Employees, BI, Oxide Computer Company, San Francisco Chronicle, Symantec, CA Technologies Locations: China, Dell, India, Latin America

☆ Marc Benioff just can't make up his mind on RTO
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

This is despite mandating Salesforce employees to come to the office three or more days a week. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementSalesforce billionaire CEO Marc Benioff seems to have somewhat of a muddled stance on hybrid working. AdvertisementBut Benioff doesn't seem to apply this mantra to his own workforce. It just doesn't work with my personality."

Persons: Marc Benioff, —, it's, GQ isn't, Benioff, I've Organizations: GQ, Service, Engineers

☆ These Gen Z workers at Goldman Sachs, Google, and beyond say they don't want to work from home. They like going into the office.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

About 81% of Gen Z workers think in-person office experiences are important, a survey says. AdvertisementIt seems like more and more CEOs are calling their employees back to the office — and some Gen Z workers couldn't be more happy about it. We talked to Gen Z workers — defined as those born between 1997 and 2012 — who say they don't mind working in the office. Adobe surveyed more than 1,000 Gen Z workers in September at medium- and large-sized companies in the US for its Future Workforce Study. For these Gen Z workers, the debate is settled.

Persons: Gen, —, Gen Z'ers, Goldman Sachs, Louie Chavez, Chavez, there's, Mary Kate Viceconte, I'm, who've, Viceconte, Andrew Abraham, Abraham, it's, Z'er, Zachary Timms, Timms, Barry Biffle Organizations: Service, Adobe, Goldman, Business, Google, Frontier Airlines Locations: Atlanta, Texas

☆ A career trend to bet on
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In today's big story, we're looking at why the creator economy is big business and potentially the future of the entertainment industry. The big storyInfluential influencersPete Ryan for Business InsiderLike it or not, the "creator economy" is here to stay. Goldman Sachs analysts estimated the creator economy was a $250 billion industry and could nearly double to $480 billion by 2027. The story is part of Business Insider's "5 Trends to Bet Your Career On" series. Business Insider's Lucia Moses and Alison Brower have a full breakdown of the recent cuts.

Persons: —, who've, Pete Ryan, Goldman Sachs, Amanda Perelli, Amanda, Alix Earle, Arantza Pena Popo, Business Insider's Lucia Moses, Alison Brower, that's, Michael Dell, Carl Icahn, Dell, BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI Biden, Xi, Dolly Parton, RuPaul, Rachel McAdams, Danny DeVito, Martin Scorsese, VCs, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, Business, TikTok, YouTube, Diego Donamaria, CNBC, Tech, Icahn Enterprises, Whirlpool, Walmart, Target, Today Locations: Diego, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ Snap workers say they're being closely 'tracked' to enforce compliance with the RTO mandate
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Snap is doing what it can to get employees working in the office again. The Snapchat parent at the start of September enacted its return to office mandate , requiring workers to be in an office at least four days a week. Besides that, Snap is also "badge tracking," the people familiar said. Snap workers' adherence to RTO rules will become part of their performance reviews going forward, the people familiar added. Snap's attempts to enforce the RTO mandate come alongside piecemeal layoffs , executive departures , ongoing business struggles, and advertising woes.

Persons: It's, Snap's, Evan Spiegel, Evan, Spiegel, he's, We're Organizations: Business, Meta

☆ Companies want workers back in the office, but are simultaneously reducing office space, new survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Around 75% of companies plan to reduce their office square footage next year, a new survey found. Robin Powered surveyed over 500 business owners about how their office space is being used. It found that over 60% of firms are paying $50 or more per square foot of their office space. Over 60% of companies who responded to the survey said they are paying $50 or more per square foot of their office space. AdvertisementMany major companies including Meta , Google , Dropbox , and Salesforce have scaled back on office space in the past year as a cost-cutting measure.

Persons: Robin, — Organizations: Service, Companies, Meta, Google

☆ Amazon is blocking promotions of employees who don't comply with its return-to-office policy, leaked documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon told its managers last month that employees slated for promotions must comply with the company's return-to-office policy, which requires them to be in the office at least three times a week. Last month, Amazon told managers that they now have discretion to fire employees who refuse to comply with the return-to-office policy, as Insider previously reported . Amazon employees have been unsuccessfully protesting the RTO mandate since February, when it was first announced . And then, Amazon told managers they were allowed to fire employees who didn't comply. They are:An employee's role must have the capacity to be performed at the next level.

Persons: Slack, Jeff Organizations: Amazon, Business

☆ How working moms can make sure they don't get lost in the RTO conversation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Tim Paradis | Josée Rose | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Leaders need to articulate team needs; workers need to be honest about work-life prioritization. The flexibility of signing on from their living room leaves more time for school pickups, doctor's appointments, and meal planning, but it's more of a Band-Aid than a real fix for the pile of challenges working moms often face. For these women, who want to be great moms and have fulfilling careers, and some RTO mandates may make achieving both (or either!) AdvertisementAdvertisementTaking an individual approach to employees can help them do their best work — and meet the employer's needs — especially because many RTO mandates often fail to take into account what many working moms need, Scheib said. And I think the kids will suffer at the end of the day and moms and their mental health will suffer."

Persons: —, it's, it'll, Kelly Resendez, Danna Greenberg, Wells, Cork Gaines, Greenberg, Resendez, aren't, Mandy McAllister, Kelly Scheib, Scheib, prescriptively Organizations: Service, Babson College, Bank of America

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