Conversation went from "We'll come up with a sound plan that makes sense" before the holiday to "We're coming in 3 days a week minimum" after the new year.
I'd be OK coming into the office if we still had space to call our own, but to think that we now have to strategize and plan for when and where we will be working, to then jump on a call with other members of our team who reside in other parts of the planet is about as d-mb as it gets.
Hows this going to shake out?
Ford offices have long been unpleasant places to work in due to ageing facilities, poor climate controls and frequently very unpleasant restrooms. But at least we had a fixed place to set and relatively tall cube walls for a sense of personal space where we could work with fewer distractions. Converting to open office layout with no privacy or mitigation of distractions is worse than being in an old building. Compounded that with the unease of not having a regular place to work day after day and it becomes a miserable work experience for many.
Leaving a job that is an unpleasant working experience for that individual is not childish. It's called managing your own career and life experience.
What's hilarious is how upset some of you people are about this. I work for a Tiered Supplier to several OEMs including Ford. Ford by far has the most complaints about RTO, and I work with over 100+ Engineers throughout the company as well as have several friends that work for the company. I understand the frustration with your current office situation, but people stating they're going to leave their jobs because of this is just completely childish. Is it going to get in the way of you sitting at your cottage up north all summer? We had several years of working from home, now it's time to return. Grow up.
Our group is going back 1 day/week, I am ok with what keeps me employed for another 24 months.
Told my cubemate on Mar 12, 2020 when we were sent home, "this does not pass the smell test".
It didn't then and it still doesn't.
I had no qualms about working wherever necessary and did exactly that.
CEO's and business leaders helped sell the fear of Covid, good luck buying it back.
Once again, the RTO mandates have nothing to do with productivity or employee comfort. It'll primarily be used as a way to increase discontent in those areas where more attrition is desired. The secondary purpose is to make use of the properties and to leverage various tax reductions that I'm sure we're not aware of.
My prediction is that it'll first drive out the remaining people who can find similar or better work elsewhere. The toxic corporate survival politics will get worse while quality and general productivity gets even worse. Ultimately leading to massive lay-offs and then bankruptcy when the public will no longer spend their money on what Ford has to sell.
RTO is a tool to increase retirements.
I worked for a tech company in the 1990s. They had floating cubes at that time. The evening before or morning of you went online/used your phone to reserve a cubicle in the building you wanted to work in that day. You used your company provided backpack to tote your laptop and office supplies. Your phone # was routed to the cube you were in. It worked quite well and it trained you to not rely on printed materials.
The only downfall was some buildings rapidly filled on certain days of the week. This was due to the menu at the buildings cafeteria. Once management figured that out they offered the popular menu items at other buildings.
Ford’s flaw is the open office instead of cubicles. It limits the usability of unassigned office space. They foolishly bought into Hacketts brain burps
Sounds like the next SIRP plan. Make everyone come in. Those there isn't room for get SIRP'd.
Problem solved.
Ford doesn’t need employees. Outsource the work to India, Vietnam, China, and Morocco…problem solved…or is it?
I don’t believe there is space for the entire company to RTO in April. This is either division specific and/or there will be a massive layoff.
It would be helpful if people put what area they work in that are mandated to RTO, # of days and if they are mandating which days.
From what I’ve gathered so far, it appears that Model e (not sure if it’s all parts of Model e) is one of the areas. This leads me to believe that JF is the catalyst which makes sense considering he follows Elon Musk.
Just proves how id--tic and out of touch our leadership are. Makes so much sense to make people drive in. Then be forced to live out of a backpack and work on T V carts. To just sit on webex all day like we did before COVID, and ever since except currently from the comfort of our homes. No need to lock up every thing every time you have to go to the bathroom or get coffee or food.
RTO by the end of the first quarter. Right from my people person.
Which areas are being required to RTO? Not mine.
Is DF coming in to work? Or is he remaining in his bubble?
RTO or GTFO!
This is not mandated in my area of PD.
Would be good to know what area (and how many people) this affects for the OP…
Mark my words, another jab mandate will follow this! Can't be in the office 3-4 days a week without a vax that doesn't work being required!
This is JF and BF bowing to government pressure. The MI Governor and Dearborn mayor never been on the phone weekly with upper management to get everyone back into the office 3-4 days a week. Michigan needs the gasoline tax commuters pay, and local businesses need the revenue in office workers provide. Anyone that thought Bill wouldn't bow to people he politically supports then your haven't been paying attention!
It will get dicey when everyone is getting sick and have to take off of work. These viruses and bacteria infections don't play nice these days. In good times, contractors couldn't work from home at all so they came in sick and got everyone else sick too.
I agree with OP that unassigned seating and open floor plan is incredibly sub-optimal for white collar folk in general, and especially for those who are producing output of actual value (vs just "pushing paper around"). However, the RTO push is not about employee comfort or productivity. This is intended as a filter to push out some more people without paying severance as both Ford's and the national/global economic conditions deteriorate. I've noted that in my area that this is indeed a dictate coming down from on high and the farther down the chain the less enthusiasm there is for it.
I expect that come March when merits are announced and once again are no more than 3% on average (IE a notable effective pay cut due to two full years of high inflation) that the added cost of commuting cost and time will lead to an exodus of those who can find positions elsewhere. This won't be a concern to management since the strategy going into a recession (or new biz cycle) is to reduce head-count and other structural costs. The Legend said a year ago that those of us in Dearborn are unneeded & undesired, so pushing people out the door by whatever means is aligned with that.
The short of it is to expect the work experience here to become increasingly miserable. "The beatings shall continue until morale improves."
I am glad Doug Field is pushing the return to work initiative. It might be only a couple days for now, but will push to be back to 5 days in the office which will get Ford back on its feet from the employee side of the business.
What areas are being requested to go in 3 days a week? As required by need only here.
"Think Ford First" like the old jingle ? Nawww - How about F Ford First ? They went along with all the fake 'science' for political Plandemic payoffs and now want to reverse everything . . . until the NEXT plandemic. If the people demand honest government and freedom from tyranny in 2024 there will more lockdowns and 'pharmacide'.
@zzl+1kzfdrpB In my experience at Ford, the "free ride" is always permitted for certain individuals: brown noses, "friends and family", backstabbers, you get the idea. It doesn't matter if at the office or from home, these people always get the "hall pass" to do nothing, sc--w the hard workers employees and get the credit.
RTO or find a new job. The free ride is coming to the end.