Thread regarding Elevance Health (Anthem) layoffs

I would be interested to know if there are EH workers who were able to get their work category updated to virtual. Also, is there anyone not meeting the 1 time a week policy and getting punished for it?

@1s0 I was hired over 30 years ago as a remote associate and cannot get my status updated to virtual. But I've heard other teams (entire teams) were updated to virtual because they were hired as virtual a few years ago.

The workforce is at the mercy of the sociopaths that run these companies. These id--ts are just smart enough to do the biddings of the ones that control all of us. Give them money and a little bit of power and they will do anything. They are not important and add no value to the greater good of society. Someday we will all look back with shame that we ever allowed this to happen.

@1e0 if this so called leaders to include VP are so unsuccessful - how can you expect them to care about staff for any reason. Hard to believe if so many thought it was a bad idea they could not collectively say no. Gutless -

Wow. Sounds just like our experience at the Richmond office, except we can’t see the stadium from here. It’s only a 10 minute drive though if I want to see it. Yeah, the whole company has lost its way. Kinda sad; it used to be a great place to work.

Putting aside the fact that remote work is very cost effective, for multiple reasons, just looking at the stupidity of leadership and the project managers in charge of CRE speaks VOLUMES to their inability to effectively run this company.
You sell the building you own, pre-pandemic, and then lease fewer floors out. Ok, reduced footprint and maintenance costs, I’ll give you that. Tons spent on new workstations. Fine, the decades old stuff needed to go. That’s where the logic ceases, and this is where the insanity begins. RTO and half of the floor is “hibernated,” but as more people start coming back in, instead of opening up those desks already installed, you spend more to install additional ones in the collab/games areas and relocate the space pods to areas that require whole new electrical systems to be installed. Then, since you have some sort of shady dealings with others, you decide to leave the convenient location, that has begun to see new growth and improvements springing up all around it, and move it to a location within the others’ building that is an awful place…but oooo look a pretty landmark and glimpse of a stadium. Finally, the logistics of said relocation. They take one floor and say “cram into the left half of the building for a bit, so we can start moving that furniture.” After a month of that, then we’ll have you go down to the other floor, but not to those stations that were hibernated. We decided to start packing those up and moving them as well. Just make sure to reserve your space ahead of time bc we allow you a two week window. Trust us, you’ll love our new space and it’s sophisticated color palette. Meanwhile, here are 3 ridiculous renderings of the lobby, “think spaces,” and “collab areas,” and the supposed floor plans, that we can’t even label correctly (unless women have started using urinals in recent years) and didn’t actually stick to.
GENIUS >:(

"Why It Matters to Elevance"

Let's be honest, RTO matters to the ELT because they are beholden to the various industries that benefit from RTO (e.g., the automobile industry, the petroleum industry, the restaurant industry, local governments, etc.). One hand washes the other in good old corporate America.

@bz complete madness

@qt but why make those who were hired as remote before covid “return” to an office they’ve never been to in the first place? There should be opportunities for exceptions.

@1dh Don't assume leaders haven't pushed back. Assume instead that their arguments are falling on deaf ears, or ears that love hearing the complaints since it lends to their goal of voluntary terms.

I personally know several VPs and staff vps who have been fighting this for years. This outcry is probably why it has taken this long to implement.

My favorite part of RTO, though, has to be the spending of millions to remodel offices to reduce footprint, only to now spend millions to increase it. It's id--tic.

@1df if that is true that Managers and People Leaders don't want RTO - why is there not a collective voice to upper leadership to make the case of what a time su-k, waste of time it is. If you are in the office aren't you supposed to be going spot to spot collaborating. The rest of us wonder if you are not all standing up to leadership, its called failure to lead, and maybe it's about the hassle you have to deal with RTO.

It's a reasonable conclusion - if Managers can't/won't stand up for their team - what's the point

Wish I had the time to flit from desk to desk drinking coffee and chatting! I have actual….work! To do. Trust me, there are minimal to no manager or people leaders who want to do this. It’s stupid, wasteful ..but does justify the cost squandered building/paying for these buildings.

@154 the only thing the leaders don't like about his policy is that it might effect them - that is as far as it goes - they could care less how it effects their team.

@s8 I know no leaders who like this policy. They all feel the same as everyone else.

This is an attrition policy.

@14h you are using common sense -sadly that doesn't mean anything - this place does not do common sense or they would have solved this issue before they put the policy in place.

@148 I would assume not all of those 2800 people are are required to be in the office 3 days a week. So say 200 have to go in 3 days a week. The rest 1 day. Still the math is tight. I think this should give solace that not everyone will be required to go into the office 3 days based on the math not mathing. Dispels the rumors that all of us will be required to go in 3 days a week. Whew!

@11q When you say - There are 2800 people assigned to my pulse point with only 600 available seats.

Has anyone in your team asked leadership how this is going to work? Math is not Mathing and it would seem they should be able to explain this?
Quick math check:
2,800 people × 3 days/week = 8,400 total “seat-days” needed per week.

600 seats × 5 workdays/week = 3,000 seat-days available per week.

So you cannot have everyone physically present 3 days in the office unless:

They work partial days/shifts.

Some people work remotely on some of their 3 days (hybrid).

The 3 days are not the same for all employees (rotations). Who possibly is in charge of the massive rotation schedule? What a mess

@s8
I’m an individual contributor who started three days a week yesterday. I sit on a floor full of people who are completely unrelated to my job. Everyone is on calls and working all day so there is no room for collaboration. The people I work with are all across the country. The few people on my team in my office do the same job I do but for different markets so we have no needed interaction other than social.
I’m driving 40 mins each way, packing and unpacking my laptop twice each day for absolutely f-cking nothing.
There are 2800 people assigned to my pulse point with only 600 available seats.
This is thinning the herd. This is forced discomfort hoping for quits instead of having to pay severances with rifs.
I’m hoping for an SLT shake up very soon. These are horrible decisions made by extremely out of touch executives.

@s8 Collaboration is interesting since we are told what to do and what rules to follow so there is not much to discuss. When you have no decision making power is this just a gripe session. We have 2 VP's but we all do the same work Neither VP manages or leads the same as the other so clearly they are not collaborating.

If you look at a previous post "meaningful collaboration" does not mean being on calls, meetings or emails. This is all so stupid

I’d really like to hear from the leaders who start to RTO 3x week on the 15th. Have they been desperately needing more in-office time so they can finally be much more productive and finally collaborate more — which apparently by the narrative we have all been given, they had not been able to do so before?

I’m genuinely not sure how to make this work. My day is packed with at least 6.5 hours of mandatory calls starting at 630 am., with half my team overseas and the rest scattered across the U.S. I’m the only one near this office location—still 54 minutes away—and I don’t have anyone from my team physically here.

If we’re moving to three in-office days per week but aren’t allowed to be on calls or working in our cubes most of the day, what exactly am I supposed to do? Skip meetings? Block off my calendar? Let everyone know I’m only available by phone two days a week?

If that’s truly the intent, then sure—I’ll happily socialize with everyone on the floor, brainstorm wildly, collaborate like never before, and maybe even share a few secrets while I’m at it.

But it just doesn’t add up. I’m struggling to understand how that kind of setup wouldn’t tank productivity.

@jx It actually was not a bad decision. The commitment to build, and shovels in the ground, happened just before COVID hit. If memory serves me correctly, it was simply bad timing.

@fc Again, I am getting really tired of having to pay for the bad decisions made by the Executives at this company.

They can go sc--w if they think I’m going back to an office. I’ve been wah for 10 years. Zero chance of doing that again.

@dw It is because they open a fortune on real estate and it looks bad to the board to see 25-30% occupancy. The Atlanta Taj Mahal is a prime example of a massive expense that needs to be justified.

@e5 Amen!

@e5 WELL SAID!

@bz Nothing at this company makes sense anymore. I should not have to pull a report of people that work in my office and dream up ways to collaborate with them. They should maybe have one of the overpaid a numerous Staff VPs figure it out. This is not my job!!!!!!! Especially not after cr-ppy merit and AIP. No way am I making any effort to do this. Shame on you SLT for trying to add more cr-p to our plate because you guys are fu--ing clueless. You couldn’t execute your way out of a paper bag.

@bz When I go into the office, there is zero colloaboration. Everyone is on the phone talking to their counterparts all around the country. Someone from SLT needs to clearly and concisely explain why they are now requiring folks to go into the office. It is ridiculous to have to drive into the office just to sit alone and do the same exact work that you do at home.

@b4 There is an official policy and FAQ but given you aren’t with the company I don’t know how you would read it.

@b4 same

@bm Why are the RTO rules so different across this company? I am being forced to report into an office with a 1+ hour commute where there is not one person that I even 'remotely' work with. My own manager doesn't report into any PulsePoint. I was hired as a 100 percent remote employee. None of this makes sense.

Every member of my team is in a different state. I have not been called into the office. It would literally make zero sense as I have no one to collaborate with.

Is there an FAQ or other official statement to read? I was thankfully RIF’d a few months ago so I’m just here with my popcorn and feeling badly for those who remain.

@a9 yes! 👍 lol

What Counts as "Meaningful In-Person Collaboration"
Team Meetings or Strategy Sessions: Participating in scheduled, interactive discussions with colleagues or cross-functional groups.

Workshops or Planning Days: Attending sessions that require brainstorming, whiteboarding, or real-time decision-making.

1-on-1 or Group Working Sessions: Collaborating with your manager, direct reports, or team members to work on active projects.
Training, Coaching, or Onboarding: Engaging with others during skill-building or mentorship activities.

Client-Facing Events: If you’re in a customer-facing role, this could include in-office meetings with clients or vendors.
What Doesn’t Count
Badging in and leaving shortly after with no interaction.

Sitting in your cubicle all day on video calls or email.

Coming in just to satisfy a headcount or attendance quota without engaging anyone.

🧠 Why It Matters to Elevance
Elevance and similar companies are trying to justify the cost and purpose of office space. They want people in the building only when it drives collaboration, innovation, or mentorship—otherwise, they’re fine with remote work. "Meaningful" is their way of saying “don’t just show up—engage.”

Not sure how this is done if your job is to talk to members on the phone all day and/or be in a pulse point where you don't know anyone and they don't have anything to do with your role

I guess I can talk to people now about how stupid this policy is. Does that count?

@a6 So they say to chit-chat with people in the hallways, breakrooms, etc. but the very next paragraph talks about doing “heads down work”. Either they want us to make friends and talk to everyone or get our work done. They can’t have it both ways. The whole FAQ is an oxymoron.

@a2 But my actual manager told me more than once to just badge in and out. So managers were basically condoning this behavior. This was awhile back but again I was told all I needed to do was swipe my badge. I got riffed but manager is still doing his same job. I got rehired and will never blindly listen to a manager again. I am never going to stay for a full 8 hours though.

Read the FAQ. So stupid that they expect the workers to pull a report of who works in their office and then find ways for meaningful collaboration. This was your idea to have people in the office- you figure it out. Elevance does not pay me enough to brainstorm for them and do additional duties. Pluse the policy is vague and doubt anyone is going to be able to monitor “collaboration” time. So fu--ing stupid!