Thread regarding Paramount Global layoffs

Saying what “good companies” do is a waste of time. What paramount does is sadly industry standard. If there was a competitive media company doing wfh, paramount wouldn’t be doing this. So it’s rto or find another job in another industry. Thats the whole reason for all the rto posts. People can’t find better media jobs and want to bash where they work

@172 yup, I have only been to the office ~ 5/x during my three year tenure and can confirm it was a multitude of distractions and socializing. My friends who work in hybrid situations say the only benefits they see are the social aspect. Not one has cited a positive business benefit of in person collaboration. Of course, most of them get free breakfast/lunch/dinner at their offices. I would complain less about RTO if that was a benefit we were going to get - lol

Clearly you people havent been to the office in a while. 1/3 of the day consists of meaningless bs conversations unrelated or loosely related to work. It rivals any "distractions" someone may have at home.

@fs I dont think you are taking into account work ethic. People with a good work ethic are going to be your top performers at home or in the office. You're kidding yourself if you think that being in an office is going to magically transform someone with a mid or bad work ethic into an all star.

With the remote/hybrid situation, checking and doing work before the day begins and in the evening are part of my daily routine. Now with the daily commutes, that time before will be spent on a train/bus and after a long commute that laptop isnt coming out of the bag before the morning.

@gj I work mostly remote and there are blocks of time I can’t get responses from in-office workers. It’s the same every day. Sometimes they even have a permanent block in calendars during those times. They're called commutes.

I work mostly in office and there are blocks of time I can’t get responses from remote workers. It’s the same everyday. Sometimes they even have a permanent block in calendars during those times. I’m not a management bootlicker. I just can’t do my job 9-6 or 7 in office if all my responses seem to be early morning or a short evening window. You may say you are working later remotely to get lots more work done, but if your schedule is out of sync with the in office folks it will inevitably cause problems and resentment. Let’s not even talk about how much worse this gets when we are in different time zones.

@f5 When we all all back at the office, the ex-WFH worker, when needed spontaneously, won't be able to hide, disappear for hours without someone noticing, or say "let's set up a zoom call next week to discuss", or "I have to go pick up my kid from soccer" or "my yoga lesson is starting in 10 minutes" etc etc. Sure, you can slack off at the office, but we'll notice it eventually.

@ec How funny you equate being in the office with work. I guarantee anyone who you think was "cheating the system" by being lazy at home will find a way to get out of work in an office.

@d5 In my experience with this company, very few people work effectively on Fridays. Try getting something done, or a get a simple answer from anyone on Fridays. RTO solves this instantly. If you aren't working properly on a Friday and now you have to come in, of course you will complain, because you will have to do actual work.

Either the work is getting done or not. The full time RTO is complete nonsense and just a way to have people quit. Really curious to see if teams really do return to the office. Almost no one comes in on Fridays. Can’t tell me that is going to change.

@ay adults work no matter if it is sitting in an office at home or work. People who lack confidence are the in office people. They think being seen means hard work. Lol.

@ay Working and sitting in an office are two very different things. Maybe you need to be in an office to be effective at your job, but there are plenty of us who can work just as effectively (or more so) at home.

This is spot on, thank you. It feels inhumane to those who were so loyal to their jobs. Yet those who took the buy out didn’t want to stick around with the new vibes. Remember the old Viacom motto….First Place To Work. That positive morale is gone. Let’s be realistic for the adult employees who work in the entertainment industry including Paramount. Obviously it’s NOT a 9-5 or 10-6 job. There are many days we’re on call, meeting deadlines, traveling, working overtime, adhering to different time zones, working weekends, dealing with LA traffic and watching your back during NYC commute. Many employees wear earbuds at the office to muffle the chatter so they can focus on work. There’s absolutely no compassion for those who really need to balance work, life and family…children, aging parents, pets, health issues and so on. Balance is key in life. Granted we worked 5 days wk prior to covid but we were burnt out. We proved how effective and efficient we can be working from home. Healthier and less stress. The last thing I want to do is open my laptop after a long a-s commute home. At least let the employees WFH on Fridays. This is not a complaint but a concern for everyone’s well being.

Adults go to work.