Can anyone explain the financial benefit to Edward Jones by having people return to the office?
18 replies (most recent on top)
@wv I also like the "we work better together all in the same building!"..."oh, those 1000s of offshore contractors over in indian don't count. Carry on!"
I like “sit where you want.” I prefer to sit at the desk in my house.
@hk Not enough rooms to go around. Ted said let the people who are the closest to the work make the decisions about the work. This is another way Penny has ruined our culture. But, it will be spun that we are being innovative and that is what EJ has always been about.
@OP It's to get people to quit without giving them severance.
They really need to think about giving people their own space if RTO 4 days a week. More and more contractors are also coming in to collaborate too and well they also need a seat at the table.
@hk Why should I book a room when can just hop in a plastic phone booth pod that the company paid 10k a piece for??? Nothing says culture and collaboration like being in a 6×8 fish tank with another coworker. All good though, Im sure penny saw some other dystopian company using them and figured we HAD to do the same to keep up with the jones'
@k3 what a short sighted backwards approach. Clown....WAH/hybrid has been a thing with EDJ since 2008-2009. It was touted as cost savings, technological advancement. A win for work life balance and a win for not spending $ on office space. In 2020 everyone went hybrid or fully remote. Everyone was happy and companies were saving money on not having office expense. Productivity actually went up for most people because the commute/office cube life is an outdated miserable experience. The only people who want remote/hba work gone are micro managing GPs who do nothing of value and need to look like they are doing something by creeping around everyone's cube. Commercial real estate also is another reason for RTO. It has nothing to do collaboration, culture, or any other BS excuse. Edward Jones, once again, is just following the lead of everyone else without any hard data on the benefits of RTO. We want to move into the future, yet want to still have a 1985 office model of having everyone in a cube and working out of fear of being fired. Good job guys! This will for sure end well.
@k3 Move on to another employer.
Nobody in their right mind should have thought hybrid was going to last. The writing has been on the wall since 2021. Look back on the last 6 years with fondness and move on.
@hb get used to it. We have been dealing with this open floor plan for years. If you want privacy book a room.
I've been here for 12 years, all in one department. We always had seperate high wall cubes due to sensitive and delicate conversations. Honestly prior to 2020 and work at home. I thought it was depressing looking, but grew to appreciate it because it offered some privacy. Now my department has been moved to the newer tower with the open work environment. It's much worse. Now on Zoom meeting, you see other associates (on other teams) walk by, you hear their voices through the mics. When speaking with clients on private matters, I'm sure clients find it quite distracting. I'm not Jordan Belfort at Oakmont Stratton. We don't need the commotion of others in the background.
Team building through scarcity
Nothing builds camaraderie like adults rotating turns on the one remaining chair.
Hybrid authenticity training
You still take every meeting on Zoom, but now you do it while whispering and fighting for an outlet.
Morale via contrast
After giant layoff rounds, they want remaining staff to feel grateful they’re employed… even if they’re standing.
Office Hunger Games
Chairs are limited to identify the most adaptable, aggressive, or lightweight employees.
Real estate guilt
The lease is expensive, and someone will sit near that ficus whether they like it or not.
Innovation pressure
Discomfort sparks creativity. Or at least sarcasm. Either way, engagement.
Visibility theater
You might not be more productive, but leadership can see you suffering in real time.
Exit encouragement
If the layoffs didn’t do it, standing desks without desks might speed things along.
Attendance-based survival test
If you show up despite no chairs, no rooms, and no point, you’re clearly loyal enough to keep… for now.
Outsource me, baby.
I'm sure it is 2 part reason behind it. 1 is the real estate. Notice how all the big companies in 2021-2023 were bragging about how well WAH was going and how happy everyone was? Then, 6 months later they all tripped over themselves to get RTO going under collaboration talking points. So, I'm sure there was something somewhere that gives these companies a perk or $ incentive to make bodies fill the office up. All that talk about culture and being together is utter BS. The other side of this is a quiet layoff. RTO will anger enough people this time to cause more people to quit this toxic backward sh1thole of a company. Im sure more ISP and outsourcing this spring will add to muh culture as well. By the time june rolls around the dystopian nightmare will be in full swing we start copying what JP Morgan does by having coffee delivered to our pods so we don't have to get up from our desk. Yay!...can't wait for the gross little boot li---r to downvote me like they have to everyone else.
Wonder if there is some tax write off. Aka 70% in this building so we can write each seat off. Despite not being enough seats for everyone which makes no sense. The whole sit where you want makes no sense. Give me a dang location so I can feel appreciated a bit more.
it squeezes out the people why will stand up for themselves, and what is right. those people will be replaced with new, lower paid staff. and, A share partnership units will be surrendered...
Gotta pay for those big 4 consultants that just churn out ai slop
@OP, yes. To spread germs.