All DC and MN telecommuters are now required to come in. 65+ page document with a hundred names on each doc was released on people with statuses revoked.
Criteria was 30 miles to either office.
51 replies (most recent on top)
Think about people who live in 30 min drive but take public commute to go to office. It takes a lot more time to reach to office.
I feel your pain. I am at the headquarters building with no team members just myself. While my team members get to telecommute. I feel even more disconnected with my team now vs telecommuting.
The company appears to be cutting costs by encouraging resignations or creating performance-based grounds for termination, such as enforcing a four-day office attendance policy. Profitability challenges, particularly in the Optum business due to CMS V28 changes, are straining finances. Heavy investments in AI are unlikely to yield short-term returns, if any. Meanwhile, executive perks—luxury travel, corporate jets, security, double-digit raises, and millions in stock options—remain untouched. Instead, the company is pressuring its most vulnerable employees. This is a textbook case of mismanagement driving a company into the ground. Leadership is dominated by yes-men and yes-women, with dissenting voices pushed out. If you have alternatives, consider leaving this toxic environment. If not, make the best of your situation and be grateful to still have a job. We will eventually get used to, if they don’t outsource 100% and layoffs before.
I get to sit in the building all by myself since all my team members are either in India or on either coast.
Just got the email. Anyone with a 30 min avg drive. I was designated as a telecommuter.
No one on our team got an email. Multiple in a short drive of EP campus. Was this based on your department leader?
So the email was sent? Can someone post the text or body?
Haha the person calling everyone liars has started deleting their posts and comments. I'm guessing they finally saw the RTO email that was sent out this afternoon.
feeling sorry for all the people who were working 2 or more jobs at the same time, hope you have a back up plan...
your a fu--ing liar op im still telecommute and i live within a close distance to a building you probably dont even work for optum
@ev calculating by zip code isn't quite fair though- some zip codes you can drive 20-30 min and still be in the same one!
@k5 you clearly don’t have young kids. Parents have childcare who are working. If they don’t, I agree that’s unethical. It’s that kids get picked up later and dropped off earlier from buses than the extra drive times will allow for full days in the office. The extra time driving was time spent working. Add in a young sibling still in daycare and it makes it worse. After school cares are full already and where I live most can’t get in anyway. This company has made it clear they are not a company of working families anymore and would rather see productivity decline than families have flexibility
@k5 your response to the post about child care is spot on! Either the job was neglected or the child was.
An email will go to approximately 2800 employees who are currently classified as telecommuters and are located within a 30-minute average drive time from our Twin Cities and Washington D.C., offices. The message outlines a new requirement for these individuals to return to the office a average of four days per week beginning the week of Oct. 20, 2025.
A badge swipe report will be available to people leaders beginning week of 10/27. If people are not making meaningful progress toward an average of 4 days a week in the office and not expressed a temporary circumstance requiring flexibility - you should open a performance case.
i just LOVE being in the office listening to everyone sneeze and cough, oh and the body odor is great! :)
@av If you need child care to go back to the office then either your job was being neglected or your child was.
@a7 Expect an email on 9/26 or 9/29.
@a1 4 days a week.
@f2 So presumably the huge advantage of face-to-face meetings with your many colleagues who don't work in India or some other state is not worth the more than 30-minute commute you'd have to make. Consider yourself lucky: There once was a requirement that employees had to work in a city with a UHG/Optum facility. Otherwise the Company considered you were expendable.
@ev thanks for sharing! I’m not in DC or Twin Cities but prepping for whenever they expand it because let’s be honest, they will. Glad to see my nearest office is more than 30 minutes away without traffic.
Yes, it is by zip code and not individual address. They used peak commuting days and times to calculate. They say that is more fair than mileage. If your on the list only thing you can do is to see if your mgr will change you to telecommute. But I don't think HR is approving many.
@ch I’ve read they are calculating distance by zip code. As far as when the 30 minutes is measured, I’m not exactly sure. I’m reading different responses. I’m hoping more details will come out when the announcement is shared.
Does anyone know what app they are using to calculate 30 minutes so we can check if we would be affected once this expands to other cities? And how this is affected by rush hour traffic? Average drive time vs rush hour is totally different . Is there a certain hour/ exact time they are using to determine “30 minute commute?”.
is this in retaliation of the new 2026 paid leave laws in MN? up to 20 weeks of paid leave for you or your family?
Calling HR. Disputing everything! Make it known i(f you call) you fear retaliation. I have 10 Q's that I willl demand answers to.
is it 30 minutes round trip or one-way for the calculation?
@a7 you’re on the list. In fact nearly 3000 on the list. 90% from MN
@ag grow up
@OP it is 30 minutes and that is calculated during the highest congestion time. I am more than 30 minutes, thankfully! So sorry to those who didn’t make it.
There’s a job req that was posted today (req number 2311818) that says remote but has this in the posting:
“You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely as you take on some tough challenges, however, for all hires within 30 minutes of an office in Minnesota or Washington DC, you’ll be required to work a minimum of four days per week in-office.”
It is phrased as 30 minutes average drive time, not thirty miles.
10/20 effective. 3 weeks to get child care etc. In order. How generous.
@aa 30 minutes in DC is down the block, lol. This place gets more ridiculous daily.
Traffic is so bad in the Twin Cities unless you live in Edina or Eden Prairie you can’t get to HR in 30 min. Hopefully that means less people are impacted
They’re doing this to get people to quit so they don’t have to pay severance. Most people getting RTO are official telecommuters since Covid. Way to boost morale before the big employee experience survey coming out. So classy.
@ah do you know how they are determining the drive time? I live 26 miles away and ETA is between 28 and 40 minutes
@ac 30 minutes
I’m so happy I don’t live 30 miles from any major city.
Managers got notice yesterday, impacted employees will be told before EOW and receive notice Monday
Can someone confirm if it’s 30 min or 30 miles? I haven’t heard anything yet in Minnesota