This haves and have nots B S is all played out. Productivity and collaboration is hindered by this random system.
Better yet, let teams decide for themselves.
18 replies (most recent on top)
I’m in GT - not an engineer and not remote.
To me, 2 things don’t make sense:
- Forcing engineers to be on site. They can and will find better paying and higher value jobs at tech companies. Nike is not a tech company. You need to give talent better incentives to join, and unless their family is here, Portland is more of a counter-incentive for someone who doesn’t love it already. We NEED good engineers, give them reasons to join us.
- Not extending these RTO policies to ETWs. If you are to make people come in the office to be “together as a team”, and you have teams where 75% are ETWs and remote, what exactly is the point? As a counter example, Google extended their 3 day RTO police to their contractors. Right now a lot of engineers deliberately don’t want to be FTEs because of the RTO policy. And so we have teams get dismantled every few months when ETW contracts end.
Ultimately, I think engineers should have the option to be remote. Functions like UX who are supposed to have face-to-face time with on site users are allowed to go fully remote, but engineers who spend all their time behind a screen are on site? What a joke. I can only think UX have friends in high places.
Again: I am NOT an engineer. Just pointing out one of the biggest RTO/WFH inconsistencies I have observed in GT.
I hope EH changes the RTO policy so that people can choose whether to WFH 5 days a week or go in office.
Only equity you can expect from a woke company like Nike is based on gender and race.
They have a quota for filling jobs with women and URM.
If you do not belong to those 2 groups run far away from this place.
There are more areas other than remote work where equity is missing.. like fair treatment of employees for their performance vs like me bias.
And what about CIS who's entire department is full remote and has been for years.
Do the right thing and fix that or make it fair across teams.
Believe it or not, there are still good managers at Nike who can and will manage with courage. They recognize what's truly important (timely output) and being in the office during specific days or times is not really a top priority. I encourage everyone to have a conversation with their manager and prove their output is higher with more flexibility. If they don't recognize that, you have a choice to make - stay or change teams. Nike is a really big company and your employment experience will vary significantly between different teams, functions and geos. I've had the privilege to experience several vastly different teams/functions/geos and every employment experience has felt like an entirely different company with its own culture.
Many people have medical exemptions that allow them to work remotely, and they are not required to disclose that to anyone but their manager.
But for those who skirt the rules, just know that HR is tracking and looking for patterns with your badge swipes. I believe there will be a reckoning at some point.
I feel that the workforce has changed since Covid and hybrid CAN work, more flexibility CAN work. I found that I work much better from home. Being an introvert with ADHD, the ability to control my environment makes for the best working conditions. That’s not an option for me any longer, so now my work suffers, but that’s what Nike gets from me now.
I am seeking for work outside of Nike that allows me to work remotely. Wish me luck.
@1dnn+1v56vzNJ The decisions of who would be remote and who would be hybrid was not equitable. It was random and reactionary to covid. No long-term thought or planning.
@1tht+1v56vzNJ
Well, I’m forced to go everyday but if I have meetings until 10pm, I go in at 1pm or 2 pm, use my lunch at 6pm or so to drive home and get back online. Some days, again depending on my schedule for that day, I go in at 10am, leave at 3pm, back online at 4pm and then finish my day. I support certain operations where I work in several time zones so my schedule can be crazy. I actually don’t work with anyone around me but I’ve never been remote. I’m still required to come in but they can’t expect me to work 8am to 10pm every other day or Saturdays and such. That’s not realistic and not expected. My work is anlso tracked easily but many I work with are in similar situations so they have to have that flexibility. My only point is to not assume someone isn’t working if you don’t see them when you think you should see them. I’m also aware of many that are there everyday and all day but can’t give you one thing they’re working on and this was the case in my last role there so there’s that. Output is what matters, not the when and where.
@1pqf+1v56vzNJ I find it hard to believe your team has no slackers. There are so many slackers in every team, part of how we are in this mess to begin with. I’ve not seen one magic team where everyone is pulling their weight.
OP there are literally so many more important things to spend your energy on. If it’s such an issue, I hope you can find a company that aligns with your value system.
Oh and requiring us to treat everyone the same with a blanket rule not founded in logic when circumstances and roles are not the same is hardly equitable.
@1xfq+1v56vzNJ Completely disagree. Not all roles are the same. Some have to work with Europe or Asia extensively and requiring them to be in office from 9-5 means 18 hour days for them, then.
I think not all managers can handle managing remote employees well, we should focus on better leaders and autonomy vs giving everyone a blanket rule that isn’t relevant in some circumstances
I agree that Nike should have one policy for everyone. Either we're all in the office M-Th or we're all given remote flexibility. The current policy is also not fairly enforced. Some managers are disregarding the policy and letting people do whatever they want.
@1tht+1v56vzNJ Idk, I’d be careful with that whole “my entire job can be remote” thing. The moment that’s the case is the moment you tend to be outsourced to a less expensive country
Also: it’s a tax liability for the company if you’re working from another state.
My team was informed that M-Th are mandatory in-office days, with no WFH even when slightly sick or with a sick kid - and all per HR. If we can’t make it in, we can take PTO or use a WFH week (which IMO are supposed to be a benefit.) But I look around and it seems like no other teams got the same message. So, I come to the office to “collaborate” but spend a lot of my day in a tiny phone booth on calls with people in other buildings.
I agree that being in the office has value, but we now have less flexibility than pre-Covid.
(And if you’re wondering - my team doesn’t have slackers and we perform consistently well - and we did so prior to this strict RTO mandate.)
@1smm+1v56vzNJ
Spoken like someone not FORCED to go to the office for no good reason.
I agree remote is fine. Forcing people into the office is NOT anymore.
op… What are you talking about? Try common sense. Some teams need to be in person, some work with Asia for half of their day and so need to overlap timezones. it isn’t all cut and dry. If you’re struggling so much, there are plenty of places allowing more (or less remote) .
I disagree and don’t see the issue with WFH. OP, don’t forget that many, many employees work with off campus employees, including international. We’re on Zoom and have been working “remotely” for decades. It’s a skill.
Even with being in the office, every meeting I join HAS to be a Zoom. This was even pre-Covid. It’s a worldwide company and many seem to forget that.