#remotework

What about the 2026 remote drilling progam ?

I have only reviewed a few postings so far, but now included is “Please note that per our policy on hybrid/virtual work, candidates not within commuting distance from the posting location(s) will NOT BE CONSIDERED for employment, unless an accommodation is granted AS REQUIRED BY LAW.”

Fully remote are stuck in their positions unless there is a policy change or they are RIF’ed.

Remote employees were once again showered with lavish gifts and people in Milwaukee got nothing. The only give TG the Grinch gave local employees was the gift of paying for more gas to commute, paying more for parking, and extra time in the restroom if you manage to find something to eat at the cafeteria. Bah humbug

What is the latest with Phase 2 RTO and remote workers?

Keep seeing that we are going in firmwide 4 days starting April 1. Can anyone confirm?

Does everyone stick to the 3-4 days in office? Most people I’ve talked to do 2 days if anything - I think riding it out until more days become mandatory.

It’s clear that merit increases are less now for remote workers than onsite, but anyone know for sure about bonuses?

Leaders in past did not consider location and noisy office of its head quarter was the problem in turning company around. My advice sell it and build a nice office convenient to all. Even if it can only house 55% capacity. We can take turns going to office. They forget their ultimate goal of turning company around and instead get entangled in RTO. Without adding another location, now they are shuttering OPO.

https://ogletree.com/insights-resources/blog-posts/paying-remote-workers-less-may-heighten-legal-risks

"Paying remote workers less than in-person workers for performing the same work could increase the risk of discrimination claims."

"Telework policies that tie lower pay to remote work may disproportionately affect women, caregivers, and employees with disabilities, potentially raising the risk of equal pay and disparate impact lawsuits."

"Courts and regulators increasingly expect individualized assessments of job functions, consistent application of policies, and rigorous documentation of legitimate business reasons for paying certain workers less than others in similar jobs. Without data-driven and legally sound analysis, employers could unintentionally adopt telework policies that are difficult to defend in court."

"Reducing pay for exempt employees who work remotely could jeopardize their exempt status in certain situations."

Curious if anyone has any actual intel on the remote workforce strategy? I’m not looking for passive aggressive comments on speculation. I’m trying to get ahead of my own planning. If there’s anyone on here who has some intel, please do tell! I’d prefer what’s next not to be a surprise also.

Remote employee- I requested my return package for my laptop and concession device the Monday after Thanksgiving- I just got an email today saying that 'they've approved my ticket, but there is currently a backlog due to a large number of requests with our vendor.' Then HR tells me that it could 'potentially' impact my severance payout if they don't receive it in time as I'll be gone until the 5th to visit family. Then this morning, we finally get some notification about Dan's 20 million dollar 'retraining' fund that he's been bragging about, and they still kick the can down the road saying that we'll get more details in the coming weeks. How can they layoff 13,000 people and not have prepared for this? Anyone else having these kind of issues?

It's nice to finally hear that DG is trying to accommodate remote workers in thoughtful manner next year!

Sorry to the massive amount of I&C and remote workers impacted. Folks at PB ... if it hasn't happened today it will be tomorrow.

Can anyone confirm what these differences are in the remote vs hub merit pools? Does hub get more, or does remote just get less?

Structure w/out trust just feels like punishment.
The people you are chasing will still hide, just now from a desk.
The rest of us lose flexibility that actually helped us deliver.
Thats why this feels like optics- not strategy.

I’m curious with the changes to remote if I would still be eligible to move up in my role to the next job grade. As of 2025 I was able to. I know a new position all together would be hub only.

Also, can a remote employee still earn an extraordinary performance?

Any managers or HR here that can share insights please?

Dear Uncle Billy,

I have decided that I do not wish to return to the office. Therefore, I won’t be doing so. This conclusion is final; and just to be clear, entirely beyond your power to control. You may find this frustrating, but rest assured, your ability to compel my presence in the office exists only in your imagination.

Sincerely,

Your #1 Teammate

Managers were just notified.

Remote employees will get in lower pay raise pool than on-site people. 0.5% to 1.0% lower.

Also it is confirmed that all remote employees will be moved to geography C on December 21st.

No mention of the actual pools or comp ranges overall.

We received 9 inches of snow yesterday and the streets and walkways are full of ice.

There will be many falls, injuries, and lawsuits as a result.

A responsible and reasonable corporation would have advised their employees to stay safe and work from home.

At least I punched the clock!

All future home office hires will be within commutable range. 4 days a week starting June 2026. Previously grandfathered home-office arrangements will end (minus those granted under ADA). Associates on campus are expected to be ON campus and associates working remotely are expected to be logged in and engaged during normal business hours for their specific work schedule - AT THE SAME LOCATION FOR THE ENTIRE DAY. HBA people leaders in grades 13 and up will be required to work 1 full week per month on a home office campus (4 consecutive days).

Info from @f8+1kc1xe1v0, reposting for visibility.

I heard a rumor that sometime next year USB will begin telling remote employees to move to a hub or they will be considered voluntarily quitting - so no severance. Don’t think this could realisticall happen all at once so I imagine it would be phased. Anyone know if this is true? I’m in a weird situation where my entire family works remotely for USB. They closed our hub so this would be devastating.

So I am one of the people who was home based before and I guess I have to go to the office now until I find something else. Am I going to make more money? Being HBA means I don't have to pay for gas, daycare expenses for two under 5, even food since I can cook at home. Some companies are paying people in the office more money. Is Jones going to do that? I don't get how this benefits me if not. Still having 60% of the office at home but forcing us to come in makes no sense unless there is a financial benefit.

I am officially designated as a hybrid employee in MN.
My manager and entire team are fully remote.
I have not been going to the office since the RTO policy took effect.
Are there others in a similar situation, and if so, how has this been addressed under the current RTO policy?

According to my manager looks like we get the last 2 weeks of December to work from home. LOB HR.

Follow up on TRo:
To nobody's shock, the actual reason behind RTO is due to inflate real estate value.
Confirmed increase in investment in local hire, goal is to eliminate remote hires entirely.
Current remote employees will be eliminated over time, first on the chopping block.
Expect a surge of investment into office spaces.

Confirmed february layoffs

Hertz will enthusiastically fork over a six-figure salary for the prestigious privilege of “leading” people on Teams—usually squeezed somewhere between your mid-morning nap, your daily Starbucks pilgrimage, your hair appointment, a quick load of laundry, a light workout, a heart-to-heart with your work-from-home spouse, and—naturally—your semi-professional pickleball training.

All while the company is basically on fire. Why visit a location when you can watch the flames from the comfort of your couch? Besides, going onsite requires effort, pants, and possibly arranging a babysitter. Absolutely not.

And here’s the best part: you too can snag one of these do-nothing, add-no-value positions. The secret formula? Olympic-level a-s-kissing, a PhD in micromanagement, and the uncanny ability to write “notes” like you’re transcribing a Supreme Court hearing.

Wondering how to land one of these cushy roles? Easy. Hertz will invent a work-from-home, zero-deliverables, six-figure job just for you—as long as they like you. So warm up that nose, dust off those “Excel skills,” and practice looking extremely busy while accomplishing absolutely nothing.

Dreams really do come true.

When looking for a job, let the technology work for you. Set up job alerts on LinkedIn. When you see a job, post immediately because sometimes postings get pulled quickly. Bring your laptop with you to the office. Take a lunch and use that time to look for jobs. Know you will go on interviews and get ghosted. You will take various personality tests and get ghosted. If someone tells you they are interested, know they might ghost you. Know if you work with a placement firm and they find you a role that is not a good match, they will ghost you. Rejection is part of the process. I was not prepared for that.

It took me 7 months of rejection to find a new role. I applied for 3 to 7 jobs every week on average. In all types of industries. And in the end, I found a job that is remote (but with 2 offices within driving distance) that is paying me 35% more for less responsibility. The culture is far better. We like our employees here. I should have done this years ago.

Reposted from @aw+1kc48va7v to make sure more people read it. ALl credit goes to the OP.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/att-ceo-john-stankey-says-made-mistake-when-told-employees-to-return-to-office-5-days-a-week-or-leave-but-the-message-was-not-wrong-instead/articleshow/125891727.cms

I go in to the office three days a week, I have a short commute and I don’t mind because the gym and stores are on the way so I just get errands done I’d do otherwise. However the office remains unchanged from my remote setup. I collaborate with my team in different time zones including India and customers scattered across various time zones . I’m an Eastern Time employee located in a hub location, my office is mostly deserted every day. People are coming in late and leaving early. Collaboration here is minimal; people are either too busy or stuck in their own silos, making it difficult for collaboration and I don’t think my Director would even want me to just start collaborating with other departments just to do it. We are already busy enough. I find it better to just collaborate with AI, which can be done from home.

But how can we measure success? I recall hearing about company savings when employees worked from home. Shedding costly Realestate. Do we have a measure for the success of the collaboration? In these though times for VZ, how much are we truly saving by having staff onsite? After all, we want to cut CapEx, right? I feel the leaner, scrappier, thing to do would just be to better monitor remote employees to save $.But maybe someone will show me the numbers proving how RTO helps the new strategy.

I’ve heard timelines all over the place, from now through March. Has anything new or reliable come out?

The Fairfax County–based IT consultancy Qbase expects to lay off 60 remote employees before the end of the year.

https://virginiabusiness.com/qbase-layoffs-remote-workers-reston-2025/

Morale is worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve lived through the data breach and Target Canada. I’m trying to think through what would change my attitude and I’ve got:

1. Replace all senior leaders with competent, caring individuals that act and speak like real human beings rather than corporate robots.
2. A 10% raise
3. More thoughtful RTO rules based on job type/duties and level.
4. Move Product Manager roles back to the US, and just generally stop moving every gd role over to TII.

I realize none of this is ever going to happen, but it’s nice to dream.

I’ve been with USB over 20 years and it’s easy to pick up when the vibe is off. These last 5 months or so leadership is turning cold shoulders at all levels. Staying to their own peers, head down in what feels like hush hush strategies. I’m seeing high performing, grandfathered remote colleagues “role eliminated” only to be reopened in a hub. You can feel something afoot and it’s maddening because it almost feels like leaders were told to be just shy of overt in how they are interacting these day. I’m not looking for gripe on the company, I’m looking for others who can share what they are seeing in their departments. Is it the same? What do you know? What have you heard? Cause something is swirling behind the scenes here!

my first day for Optum will be on the New year, but I can't find anything online about other people's experience lol. It's a fully remote job taking calls as a biomedical support engineer for cath labs. Wonder if anyone here is currently/ used to do that

Enjoy your last days working from home
Just announced on Q2 call

Pittsburgh office will be closing on January 14, 2026. Employees will be allowed to work from home.

Job searcher here! Are any of your departments hiring? I have a MBA from Duke so I should be a preferred candidate for management jobs. I can relocate to Dallas if needed, but preferably would like to work remotely.