No more hybrid schedules. More employees will be assigned to offices as well. 100 percent office requirement. Move or resign. A sneaky way to cut the workforce without having to pay severance.
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Coming to some other countries, by end of this month you'll be told then.
@br if you are on a PIP know your rights and if you get let go with no severance without a PIP, get a lawyer.
@bp Haven't you heard. No severance. Manage out to save on severance.
@bj and virtual employees will be given till the end of the fiscal year to find work elsewhere or be let go. Best to line up having a job in August so you can wait to be let go and get severance. It’s all about PIDs in offices so divestitures and reorgs can easily be moved like jig saw pieces and tracked easily in a spreadsheet. New management will be bean counters. The Mark and Sandy show is over.
Can Confirm this is true. If you are within a certain mileage and currently virtual you will be moved to office if the office can accommodate. Someone in HR is clearly a whistleblower because this was a highly confidential project.
@b9 Badge reports have been generated, manually as far as I can tell, at an irregular cadence for months now-- maybe over a year. Maybe more than a year. My inability to remember how often, or for how long, this has been ongoing is, perhaps, testament to, at least in my part of the org, of its cosmetic and meaningless nature.
@b7 detailed badge reports were generated and reviewed last week.
@ae we do he's just interim. Can do anything he wants. And let's be honest l, he's a public face. We all know savinay is running the force.
Nothing new here. Those in offices are being tracked for attendance. Managers get reports as a dashboard. There are many employees around the globe who have been made virtual which will work out nicely for them.
Good luck to everyone returning to 5 days a week. That said will be drastically reduced numbers post sales and layoffs.
In Broomfield they are going to replace cubicles and offices with servers for AI bots. The remaining humans will train the AI bots until it becomes a human less office. Welcome how tech will be for everyone in the 2030, we are just starting early because the executives want to keep their jobs.
@at
Agreed..but as someone who worked in Corporate Transactions for many many years you will notice the subtle attrition of employees out of some EU countries starting several years back.
Many years ago (at another company way back) they had a strategy to remove their employer footprint out of France by not replacing anyone who left. Now they only use Partners and resellers (this is true to this day).
To your point when they got down to 2 employees left in that country (both WFH) ..they laid them off with a very generous severance. Only 2 so well worth it for them. Not saying it's right but there are a lot of companies that are currently doing that..It is an absolute strategy ...
all based on local Labor Council laws in various EU countries.
@b3
All due respect, they are trying desperately to erase the M.B. DNA from the OT Brand and policies, so they can sell non-performong assets...(BU's)
The revised RTO policy is one of the many levers they will pull to accomplish this. 'Low cost' voluntary layoff strategy is one of many things they can and will roll out.
This does not sound right. Even Mark B did not support 5 days a week in his famous April 2025 e-mail on committing to three days.
@an
If you think that 'non-compliance' of the RTO policy will just get you laid off, thereby earning you a severance via a layoff, think again. They have already 'rolled out' their PIP separation strategy..so you will get terminated for cause..no severance. This is all part of a larger downsizing strategy 'on the cheap'..while "shoring up" their financials (via lower Opex and H/C)
to potential investors and/or interested buyers of 'non core assets'
The writing is on the wall for those who care to see it
Better together!
WFH will still be allowed on occasion, but mandated return to office full time will be in place by Q1 2027 [July 1st 2026] for all staff currently assigned to an office.
Covid is over folks. Back to normalcy. Been done over 100 years with commuting, child care, and office camaraderie. Everyone knows home is for family matters, family ties, and the View. Welcome back
How many miles from an office will a person have to be to be remaining as virtual ?
@at This is true. Opentext will announce their intent and then only hire office based employees.
@aq That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.
For all of us in Colorado:
Colorado is an "At-Will" state, meaning the bar to sue for Constructive Dismissal is extremely high, but the bar to qualify for Unemployment (if you quit) is more attainable under the "Good Cause" provision.
The Colorado "Good Cause" Checklist (For Unemployment)
In Colorado, you generally cannot get unemployment if you quit. However, you can receive benefits if you prove you quit for "Good Cause" related to the job.
- The "Substantial Change" Commute Test
• [ ] Did your commute time/distance increase significantly?
• The Rule: If you were hired as a Remote worker (or have worked remotely for years) and are now ordered to commute to Broomfield, and that commute is unreasonable (often interpreted as 45-60+ mins each way or significant mileage), this can be considered a "substantial change in working conditions."
• Key Evidence: You need a map screenshot showing the drive time during rush hour, not midnight. - The "Reduction in Pay" Test (Hidden Costs)
• [ ] Does the RTO result in a net pay cut?
• The Rule: While they may not have lowered your salary, Colorado law looks at the "conditions of work." If the cost of the commute (gas, tolls, vehicle wear) effectively reduces your take-home pay significantly, you can argue this is a negative change in compensation terms that you did not agree to. - The "Impossible Requirements" Test (Childcare/Family)
• [ ] Did they refuse a flexible schedule change?
• The Rule: If the RTO makes it impossible to care for a dependent (and you can prove you tried to find coverage but couldn't), Colorado is sometimes more lenient than other states regarding "personal reasons" if they are compelling and you attempted to keep the job by asking for a schedule adjustment.
The "Lawsuit" Checklist (Constructive Discharge)
This is much harder. To sue OpenText for damages (severance/wrongful termination) in Colorado, you generally need to pass one of these stricter tests: - The Contract Loophole
• [ ] Do you have a "Remote" Offer Letter?
• Check: Look at your original offer letter or any "Promotion" letters. Does the "Location" field say "Home Office" or "Remote"?
• Why: If it says "Broomfield, CO" (even if you never went in), they have the legal right to recall you. If it says "Home," they are technically breaching the agreement by demanding you report to an office. - The "Targeted" Harassment
• [ ] Are you being singled out?
• Check: If other staff are allowed to stay remote but you are being forced in, that is potential discrimination (age, health, etc.). If the whole department is recalled, it is just policy.
Your "Colorado Protection" Strategy
If you are going to refuse the RTO order, you must create a "Paper Trail of Reasonableness" to win your Unemployment hearing later.
Do not just say "No." Send this specific type of email:
Subject: Concerns regarding RTO and Change of Employment Terms
"Dear [Manager],
I am writing to formally address the directive to report to the Broomfield office. When I was hired/promoted to this role, the working arrangement was established as Remote.
Requiring me to commute to Broomfield represents a substantial change to the terms and conditions of my employment. The commute would take [X hours] daily, which creates an undue hardship and effectively reduces my compensation due to travel costs.
I am willing and able to continue performing my job duties remotely at the high standard I have maintained. I am asking for an exemption to this new requirement so I can continue my employment.
Please let me know if this accommodation is possible."
Why this works:
- "Substantial Change": You used the legal magic words for Colorado Unemployment.
- "Willing and Able": You proved you aren't quitting; you want to work.
- The Forced Hand: If they reply "No, come in or you are fired," THEY fired YOU. You did not quit. This significantly strengthens your claim for unemployment benefits.
@as No. Every current position location has been assessed. This was a very large project. Current "virtual" employees outside of sales will not automatically stay "virtual". To start, anyone who is currently within X of an office who is currently "virtual" will be automatically reassigned as an office employee. Will there be an exception process? Yes.
Good luck with "comply or be fired" in Europe, can't get away with cr-p there
I've heard that if you are virtual now in non sales then you will remain virtual
@an because the language of the mandate is comply or be terminated. When you're fired, that's performance related and you get zero. There is NOT going to be a huge window of time to comply. Company already has a tool in place for managers and leaders to track badge swipes . Everything is ready to go. Company is expecting - and welcomes - headcount reduction, filtering out employees not of the mind set to work for what essentially is becoming a new company and creating room to reset roles and costs by hiring lower paid employees eager for a job to do the work.
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Just don't comply, let they pay you to leave
@aj exactly. Hasn't anyone noted the removal of employees in certain US and EU regions? All new reqs outside of sales have long since been set within a region near an office and explicitly state "office". Even non sales leaders relatively new to company have been announced as "will be working from the X office". But let's be real. Office First policies have the strategic subtext of: Attrition without layoff (no severance); resetting culture for the new CEO before they arrive so they aren't the bad guy; Asserting managerial control. That's a big one. Company can tell analysts that hey, one reason we aren't prospering is our employees are NOT working 100 percent. But we are fixing that with an office mandate. And this shows we are standardizing everything in the company for predictability and CONTROL. Wall Street LOVES the image of control. Add it up: statistically, 8-12 percent of employees resign when required to go from remote or hybrid to 100 percent office + 20 -30 percent for those required to relocate to another region to meet office requirement. That's a HUGE chunk of change for OpenText. Spread the work around.
It's not only sales that are remotes. There are many people remote in engineering and other groups.
Why would anyone resign? Just don't comply and get laid off
What kind of rollout plan ? What about remotes
@ah yes, it is true. There is a very specific rollout plan. Will be announced soon.
If you didn't see this coming, you're an id--t.
This isn't true
@a9 For customer facing roles (sales) they remain remote. All others expected to be office based. 100 percent of time.
@ab it's a done deal. Staged and ready for rollout. Company has expected attrition stats - percentage of employees they expect will resign, at zero cost to the company (no severance).
Anyone have a credible source or when this is taking effect?
We don’t even have a ceo yet
It is true.
Please say this isn’t true
What about remotes ? Where did you hear this