Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

Why RTO is always a pay cut

Why RTO is always a pay cut

You do not need the CFO to slash your salary for your take-home value to drop. Mandating people back to the neon box does the job quietly.

### The clock is your first paycheck
The average US worker gave up 26.8 minutes of unpaid time each way in 2023 just getting to work. Round trip, five days a week, that is 232 lost hours a year, almost six work-weeks. Seen from a pay/time spent perspective, your hourly rate effectively goes upon RTO.

https://www.census.gov/topics/employment/commuting/guidance/acs-1yr.html

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/time-is-money-new-coast-study-reveals-the-cost-of-commuting-in-the-us-302116953.html

### You are spending... to earn
AAA pegs the real cost of car ownership and operation at $12 297 per year. Even if only half of those miles are commute miles, you personally eat roughly $6k that the company does not reimburse. Add transit fares, lunches, coffee, dry-cleaned “office clothes,” and the meter keeps running.

https://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/YDC_Fact-Sheet-FINAL-9.2024.pdf

https://itdp.org/2024/01/24/high-cost-transportation-united-states/

### The office steals productivity, too
Noise wrecks concentration. A 2024 survey of 2 800 knowledge workers found 63% struggle to focus thanks to open-plan chatter. Slower output for the same paycheck is another unspoken pay cut.

https://blog.biamp.com/loud-office-environments-are-mentally-draining-workers-says-industry-report/

Conclusion: call RTO what it is: a pay cut in everything but name.

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| 1791 views | | 16 replies (last April 28, 2025) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1jsw1jj89

16 replies (most recent on top)

I make more per hour with RTO as I only work seven hour days now

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Post ID: @e2+1jsw1jj89

"so you took a pay cut when you got to WFH, or you kept all that savings?"

LOL -- You think like a boomer CEO. Was a salary reduction even offered?

If you had been keeping up with all the independent surveys and studies you would know that employees are willing to give up salary if they can WFH. Of course, the RTO AT&T implemented is a head count reduction plan, not a culture or work place improvement plan, so the C-Suite does not want to consider that optioin.

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Post ID: @dk+1jsw1jj89

“Common sense would dictate your voluntary departure, yet here you are complaining about something you could control if you wanted to.”

I hate my life and like to blame others for my career choices.

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Post ID: @da+1jsw1jj89

"By the way, whose commute is 26.8 minutes? That would sure be nice. Try 90 minutes each way, if everything goes well."

Common sense would dictate your voluntary departure, yet here you are complaining about something you could control if you wanted to.

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Post ID: @d1+1jsw1jj89

I was hired as hybrid. I am not getting a raise to offset the costs of the additional days I have to go into the office now.

That might permit a quit for cause attributable to the employer. There is a big difference between WFH because of Covid-19, and WFH absent exigent circumstances.
https://501c.com/refusing-to-return-to-the-office/
"Was this individual initially hired as an in-office or remote employee? Having this information documented can help you make the best case in the event of a claim. If the individual was hired as a remote employee, check to see if your policy has any provisions stating that this arrangement can change in the future."

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Post ID: @ce+1jsw1jj89

There are many ways to lower the expense of RTO. Many states provide credits for use of public transportation to and from work. Carpooling is also a good way to lower the overhead of driving and save money.

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Post ID: @bk+1jsw1jj89

Duh. This isn’t new info.

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Post ID: @bf+1jsw1jj89

If it is so terrible and costing you half your pay to RTO, quit so the rest of us that want to be here can keep our jobs. Thank you

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Post ID: @b7+1jsw1jj89

Oh look someone who just started going back to the office, haha, welcome, no one cares.

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Post ID: @ar+1jsw1jj89

If you no longer like the terms of your employment, go get another job.

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Post ID: @aq+1jsw1jj89

"so you took a pay cut when you got to WFH, or you kept all that savings?"

I was hired as hybrid. I am not getting a raise to offset the costs of the additional days I have to go into the office now.

The WFH was not the employees decision. The employees were told to WFH to keep the company running.

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Post ID: @ag+1jsw1jj89

ok #DallasBound - good luck getting anywhere close to the office. If you're on these boards I'm guessing you're not an exec and don't make anywhere near the money you need to be make to get closer to an 1-hr out.

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Post ID: @a9+1jsw1jj89

Move close to the office. Problem solved. #DallasBound

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Post ID: @a8+1jsw1jj89

so you took a pay cut when you got to WFH, or you kept all that savings?

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Post ID: @a5+1jsw1jj89

What audience is this intended for?

Or, put more succinctly: Duh.

By the way, whose commute is 26.8 minutes? That would sure be nice. Try 90 minutes each way, if everything goes well.

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Post ID: @a4+1jsw1jj89

That’s part of their desire impact(s)…so we have more incentive “voluntarily” leave.

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Post ID: @a2+1jsw1jj89

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