Thread regarding Salesforce.com Inc. layoffs

Salesforce's CEO once said RTO was "never going to work." Now he's ordered staff back to the office

Salesforce has informed staff across the US that they must now comply with a strict return-to-office (RTO) mandate.

The policy varies between teams, with some expected to work nearly entirely from the office.
“Select employees in sales, workplace services, data center engineering and onsite support technicians under the chief information officer will be required to come to the office four to five days a week, effective Oct. 1," the memo read.

For other employees, the mandate is less strict, with those working in all other departments including marketing, legal, and product only required in the office at least three days per week under Salesforce’s “office-flex” schedule.

Meanwhile, some engineers have only been asked back to the office for a minimum of 10 days each quarter.

The mandate is a departure from the company’s previous stance on in-office work. At a company event in 2022, CEO Mark Benioff stated, “Office mandates are never going to work.” Salesforce leaned heavily into remote working during the pandemic.

https://www.hrgrapevine.com/us/content/article/2024-07-23-salesforces-ceo-once-said-rto-was-never-going-to-work-now-hes-ordered-staff-back-to-the-office-five-days-a-week

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| 2431 views | | 8 replies (last November 18, 2024) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1tF3OobM

8 replies (most recent on top)

Glad I left this sick company years ago! Politics, backstabbing, dishonesty was a norm.

Nohana 100%

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Post ID: @1Tztu+1tF3OobM

At least the roads 9-5 will be less congested in most cities as they are currently clogged with shoppers, I mean those "working from home"

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Post ID: @1Jsdg+1tF3OobM

easier to stalk your every device and move

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Post ID: @1muei+1tF3OobM

Driving "voluntary attrition" by mandating RTO seems to be a risky strategy as you don't know who will be leaving. Then again, maybe the overall goal is to replace a percentage of current employees with cheaper labor from poorer regions. It's probably a good way to stimulate underdeveloped regions, while also reducing cost of labor and thereby optimizing stock price for shareholders.

https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-hires-1-800-new-employees-months-after-mass-layoffs-2024-2

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Post ID: @6teb+1tF3OobM

It’s an effort to drive voluntary attrition

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Post ID: @5uge+1tF3OobM

ELT never provide valid reasoning, research, or stats for RTO. Employees have asked since it was introduced for certain teams in the past couple of years, but there's never answers provided.

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Post ID: @4tsy+1tF3OobM

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/salesforce-ceo-bold-stand-on-remote-work

It is about control. Management does not know how to operate with remote workers as they can't micromanage people. And they fret about it. The freedom and productivity working from home is management's worst nightmare because many realize they are ineffective and detrimental - also called diminishers in some books.

RTO means being tied to a noisy environment and reducing productivity.

Btw, WFH was lauded and celebrated a few years ago. Let's not forget about it and notice the U-turn.

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Post ID: @1uds+1tF3OobM

Did they provide a reason for such a mandate?

Or is the thinking here that because 'it is never going to work' that - a number of - current employees will leave on their own initiative and then can be replaced with cheaper and/or more compliant resources? Maybe I'm overthinking this.

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Post ID: @1rjf+1tF3OobM

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