Would Citi actually terminate people for not religiously following the return to office policy?
There are a lot of teams that have a mix of some folks hybrid and others grandfathered in full time remote. Does not sound consistent.
There are sites that mandate 3 days in the office but some sites 2 days in the office. Does not sound consistent.
There are some individual employees only mandated twice a week in a 3 day in the office site. Does not sound consistent.
Overall, is return to office simply another manager discretion deal? Meaning some manager will enforce it more stringently than others?
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So riddle me this batman…..Do more with less yada…yada…..
I worked all last week more than 40 hrs that’s for sure and now here I am working the weekend. We are not staffed for 24x7, not even before the layoff rounds and certainly not now. So Citi goals you on being the top of your field, the absolute expert, works you all week, then pulls a Lumbergh….”um, yeah, I’m gonna need you to login over the weekend”. Then later the mumblings of “come into the office during the week”.
Citi wants you to be the top of your field but certainly won’t pay you like you are at the top of your field. So the Lumbergh effect has re-aligned my priorities. I did develop a super power though. One of telling the future.
I sense a drastic reduction in “caring” manifesting as well as a reduction in hours per week work. I foresee doctors appointments and exhausted sick time leave at the most inconvenient times. I can foresee VDI and laptop problems during team crunch time when it counts. Not so much that I’m the lowest hanging fruit of course. Work just hard enough to keep from getting fired and no more.
I'm one of those who show up in the office for just a few hours. I try to pick days I don't have all those Zoom calls - prefer to do those at home as well as the rest of my real work.
Most of the people I work with do the same thing. It's called Face-Time, people - a little goes a long way.
Post ID: @7tlk+1sMekgfK Correct about the better salary and bonus Trade-off. Citi is jockeying to be in the news ahead of Bank of America and GS. The latter 2 are in the news every 2 weeks about their employees giving up the ghost, dy!ng on the job working 80+ hour weeks. And then the companies sp-t out the PR BullSh!t about how they "care deeply about the mental and physical well-being of their employees". NO one believes this BullSh!t that employers state just to cover their @SSeS legally. Cit does the same exact things by slave driving their employees into the ground 6 feet under. The main difference between Citi and Real Banks (BofA, GS, Morgan Stanley, JPMC, Barclays, etc.) is that the latter actually give their employees the Trade-off of better salaries and bonuses.
Post ID: @7rzj+1sMekgfK Some people do even less than 5 hours when forced to RTO. I've seen people come into the office to attend Zoom call meetings, then leave after their 1 to 2 hours of meetings for the day are done. They usually schedule their meetings back to back or as close together as possible so that All of the meetings are completed within a 2 hour timeframe, so that they can go home immediately afterwards.
To Poster Post ID: @7erk+1sMekgfK I've witnessed people do even less than 8 hours when they're forced to RTO. Just for show, I've seen them stroll in at 9:00am or 10:00am, then leave at 2:00pm or 3:00pm. They most likely log back in for 1 to 2 hours after they arrive home. You are correct. If Citi insists on antiquated dinosaur RTO and other policies, employees will look for ways and loopholes to take back their time, commuting expenses, physical and mental well-being.
You know working those long hours would be better if Citi paid a fair salary or you got adequately rewarded (bonus) at the end of the year for your efforts. Its not optimal and your health still suffers but more $ makes it a little better as a trade off rather than a “ha ha…we got everything from you that we could while paying you as little as we could”.
There was one person I know who called in sick and told his manager that they passed out and according to the doctor it was due to exhaustion by staying up working beyond 24 hours at one time. They also mentioned “I’ll be back to work in a few days, right now I’m currently seeking outside council on the matter” . While they eluded to talking to a lawyer, they never actually said it.
When they got back to work it was a complete reversal of increasingly shortened deadlines and the immediate constant demand of “results by the end of the day its not an option” all melted away.
The body deteriorates with this lifestyle. I can feel my health slipping away.
Sometimes I wish it was just 8 hours in office. Even though I attended office day in person, there are times I have to impromptu have a meeting with overseas team starting at 9:30pm. I just have enough time to commute home and eat before logging back in. Its difficult keeping your attention sharp after a day in the office and the stress of commuting and taking care of your needs to function before working again.
I don’t know about anybody else but for me, here are Citi’s options.
On the days I work from home, I give Citi about 10 hours per day.
On the days I go into the office, I give 8 hours on those days.
If they want a full return to office, no worries, 8 hours max is all I’m going to give Citi.
You can have one or the other but not both.
So which do you want, more hours? or an office presence?
its very difficult to do with the demand of the work with teams overseas such as shanghai and forcing you to work 12+ hours a day and make the quota for three days in the office. Going to the office just slows down my workflow making vicious cycle of catch up of work or risk getting flagged for under performing. I don't know the solution for this other than look elsewhere than Citi
I make sure I do my three days in the office, but I just drive there in the morning go inside and make a cup of coffee and then go back home. Been doing this for over a year so far so good.
I think there is only one office that has 2 days in the office in Dallas because of the amount of people.
I work 2 days in the office and 1 day at a location closer to my home. As far as I am aware everyone is required to come in 3 days except that office in TX.
I do know some people who received accommodations to WFH for medical or other reasons but do not have a permanent designation.
I love being full time remote. Hope it doesn’t change.
You can’t be modern and cutting edge but still adhere to the antiquated dinosaur way of thinking.
I certainly do what I want because it doesn’t seem like my manager cares so if I end up getting shitcanned because I don’t come in three days, I will let you all know.
I don't know about terminations, but definitely do see inconsistencies with RTO. Some do, some don't. I do my days in office and days at home. I can only worry about me.
People certainly have special privileges from their buddy system. Every time we join an entire department meeting hundreds of folks appear out of nowhere and I ask myself where these people have been because I never see them in the office. There’s people you see an email or meeting apparition once in 3 months never to be seen or heard of again. Most of this management structure of about 5 layers of them you barely hear or see them, except for the very bottom layers. Must be nice to be such high earners and work only 1-2 hours per day, if at all working, more like 3 hours a week and then throwing out BS terms during town halls enjoying a vacation.
Exactly! I am finding there are different rules for different groups.
If Citi does try to fire people over not being in the office, they will not be able to pick and chose, because that would open them up to discrimination lawsuits.
Citi is trying to be considered “cutting edge”. RTO is an antiquated mindset reflected by antiquated management.
Whenever I go in all I hear are two things. “I’m sorry could you repeat that I could not hear you over the background noise” and “please send me an email over it with the details, I can’t hear you over everyone else”. All of it usually on zoom, you know to their colleagues and other stakeholders in other locations spanning the globe. Realizing that you could have the same zoom session in a more quieter environment to where you could hear, makes one roll their eyes and question just how cutting edge we really are.
Irving office was sitting in the cafeteria. Everyone knew, they didn't care. There is an entire floor in Souix Falls empty, and rumor is it is for sale, at least that is what the commercial listing says.
And yes, your attendance is monitored, and you can be fired.
Inconsistency and contradictions seem to be the new operating model. Citi closes several sites and makes all of the employees there remote. Boasts about how great we are and can achieve the same work and improve productivity despite everyone being remote. 2 years later everyone is required to go into an office. Although there aren't enough seats and now a lot of people are completely orphaned and have no site to go to. That's ok, we'll get rid of you by strangling your ability to move within the company. Citi has achieved new levels of creating it's own problems. RTO is a farce. It's politically driven to stave off massive commercial real estate defaults and encourage local economy from people buying lunch under the guise of "we all work better together" Never mind your manager and your peers are in separate offices thousands of miles away. Technically even in the office you are working remote with respect to you own group. Employees just get to spend more on gas, food and parking to work less hours and get less done. Citi just does not have it's finger on the pulse of how to run an efficient shop and motivate people. They seem obsessed with doing the exact opposite.
Inconsistency is par for the course.