Make no mistake, the Feb 2024 return to office is a way for Kroger to pay off employees without severance.
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Agree 100% with everything already said. It makes no sense and the "better for collaboration" explanation we get from leadership is BS. We have excelled with delivery over the past 2 years. We have been much more effective and efficient. Forcing us to return to the office will absolutely impact productivity. You have to be a complete id--t to not understand that. And let's not forget that multiple buildings were closed/leases given up over the past 2 years to save money. There is now talk about searching for new locations to house all those returning. This will be a major expense for us to become less productive. There are many that will go to the office to sit next to many others, just to be on Teams calls the majority of the day. And those people they are on calls with are scattered across the US and even in other countries. So we now have to battle the surrounding noise and distractions during meetings.
I am getting very tired of leadership treating us like we are stupid. There is without a doubt an agenda that they are not sharing, whether that be the merger or simply a downsizing.
"Tell me how it makes any sense when we have teams in Oregon, Charlotte, Cincy, Blue Ash, N. Kentucky, Florida and more to tell us to drive in to an office."
It seems simple to me:
- When Kroger leadership announced return to the office and admitted they didn't have a plan yet, that was truthful. This would indicate they're largely incompetent, which is bad.
- When Kroger leadership announced return to the office and admitted they didn't have a plan yet, that was a lie and they already have an agenda. This is also bad.
If you've worked for Kroger long enough, you know #1 is 100% a possibility. If you've worked there just a bit longer, you know so is #2.
Kroger has already demonstrated it has zero ethics regarding its workforce; most are betting on #2. Return to the office was announced right after announcing a soft upcoming bonus to people who've worked tirelessly the last year. This has all of the signs of a "soft layoff" ahead of the Albertson's merger. Kroger has also demonstrated it has no problem creating massive brain-drain in its workforce, or at least no understanding it has. Why would this time be any different?
Yes, Rodney needs to go. It was a different company under Dave Dillon. A much better one.
I've been with technology for 12 years, this will be my last year. The first half was great under Chris Hjelm. Pay wasn't the best and you have zero control over bonus but it was better than most tech jobs and definitely better than GO. The work life balance was unmatched in the region.
However these last 5-6ish years under Yael I've faced 2-3 different disguised layoffs, all very unethical, with the most recent being forced return to office. I don't think it's Yael's choosing but fact remains I never had to worry under Hjelm.
Given you have to work in office now, I would never consider or recommend KTD. You'll make more money elsewhere.
Kroger in general has lost sight of the customer and are too shareholder focused. They're shooting themselves in the foot in so many ways. Rodney needs to go
I think there are many reasons they want to RTO. Overemployment is becoming more prevalent. I think Kroger is aware of this and pushing RTO to make it more difficult to hold more than one job. The other thing is, assuming the merger goes through, they will have corporate employees from Albertson's merging with Kroger employees. They have to do something with those employees and I think the ambiguity around June 2025 for remote workers is purposeful to get remote employees to quit prior to that date and when the date comes they will force people to move to a location where there is an office or quit. The thing that bothers me most about the reasoning for returning to the office is one common from Yael where he said that because of the way our society is setup "many mothers are forced to care for children when they get home from school" and "caring for the home". He was trying to sell RTO as a benefit to women but returning to an office will only make everything more challenging as women and their partners currently have more work life balance with having the ability to do dishes or laundry on breaks and lunch. Almost my entire team is remote, no where near an office and no one will be left if they are forced to quit.
It's gotta be the most id--tic decision the leadership at kroger has taken in the last 10 years.
There are going to be tons of QUALITY employees who joined as remote employees who leave, tons of QUALITY employees who've moved out of Ohio.
But the leaders love to say nice things about collaboration and all the "benefits" being in the hellscape that is a modern office. Who in their right mind would want to return to an office?
Tell me how it makes any sense when we have teams in Oregon, Charlotte, Cincy, Blue Ash, N. Kentucky, Florida and more to tell us to drive in to an office.
I am going to be forced to drive into an office to be on a phone call LOL
I personally believe these people who want RTO have bad home lives.
It's no doubt a soft layoff with the merger in the works and how