Because RTO just put 100,000 extra cars back on the road every single day. That’s millions of unnecessary commute miles, burned fuel, congestion, and emissions just so we can sit in offices on Teams calls. For a company that loves to talk about sustainability, this might be one of the most environmentally irresponsible decisions imaginable.
Five-day RTO didn’t improve collaboration, but it did massively increase AT&T’s carbon footprint for no measurable business benefit. If leadership wants to posture about ESG and climate responsibility, they should be prepared to answer for policies that directly contradict it.
When the protest happens, I imagine the signs would write themselves:
Chants:
• “What do we want? REMOTE WORK! When do we want it? NOW!”
• “No more traffic, no more gas — stop the fossil-fuel farce!”
• “Hey hey, ho ho, RTO has got to go!”
• “You said climate, you said care — why are we driving everywhere?”
Signs:
• ‘RTO: Return To Oil’
• ‘More Commutes ≠ More Collaboration’
• ‘Teams Calls, Tailpipes, Hypocrisy’
• ‘Climate Pledges Don’t Count If They’re Emails’
• ‘This Could’ve Been an email’
You can’t claim climate leadership while forcing mass commuting for optics. If culture is about values, this policy says exactly what leadership values and it’s not people, productivity, or the planet.