Everyone in the office is talking about looking at other jobs bc they’re stretched thin. Critical team members openly talk about interviewing elsewhere.
4 replies (most recent on top)
@ag as a contractor I’m sitting at home comfortably making 30% less than FTEs and have no benefits. I’ll gladly swap places with you and commute to the office. I’m told there is no headcount to convert me.
@ag the best part about all of this is that the same people that NEVER come in still aren’t coming in and nothing is done.
Out of my department I am the only one here and that’s the norm at this point. So I get punished while others make up excuses or just don’t show up.
I don’t think they care at all. This is a business and profit above all else is the goal. It isn’t about productivity. They want people to quit. Decisions are made on the whim of executives and hire ups that walk the halls and see empty desks but fail to noticeuu they are unfilled hotel desks or large teams are in meetings around the corner. The stats they are pulling on badge swipes doesn’t match reality. People take vacation days off and are talked to about not badging in 100%. How about instead of looking for things to punish people for you look at improving the store conditions so we actually get more foot traffic to increase our profit and stop paying execs such high salaries to pull data they don’t even understand how to do accurately?
Before talking about layoffs, leadership should first look at the imbalance they created themselves. Associates are being forced back into the office like we’re somehow less productive or less trustworthy, while contractors and others continue working comfortably from home with flexibility we’re denied. We’re expected to sit in traffic for 2+ hours a day, burn money on gas, pay extra for childcare, rearrange our entire family schedules, and absorb all the stress — just to spend most of the day on Teams calls with people who aren’t even in the building.
Meanwhile, executives talk about “culture” and “collaboration” as if morale magically improves when employees are exhausted before the workday even starts. If productivity and cost-cutting are really the priorities, then explain why the company is willing to waste thousands of employee hours commuting every week instead of focusing on actual inefficiencies.
It’s frustrating watching leadership act like employees should just quietly accept more inconvenience, more expense, and more pressure while being told layoffs may still happen anyway. People are already stretched thin dealing with inflation, gas prices, childcare costs, and burnout. Forcing office attendance without consistency or fairness just makes it feel like leadership is disconnected from the reality employees live every day.
At some point it stops feeling like “return to office” and starts feeling like punishment for the people who kept everything running in the first place.