The fight over return-to-office is getting dirty

Abstraction: Corporate RTO mandates lack data support and reflect managerial control instinct

Key points:

• Amazon mandated 3-days-per-week office attendance and threatened termination for non-compliance, yet SVP Mike Hopkins admitted in August 2023 he had "no data either way" on whether RTO improves productivity
• Most-cited studies supporting RTO have critical flaws: an NBER study used data-entry workers in India recruited specifically for the study; another measured "net speed" or lines of code — not representative of knowledge work
• Companies including Nike, Geico, and Roblox justified mandates via vague appeals to "energy," "culture," and a CEO's feelings after a 45-minute in-person meeting
• Meta required 3 days/week but employees reported they couldn't find desk space or privacy to actually work; hundreds applied for permanent remote status and heard nothing back
• Author argues RTO is "eyewash for investors" to shift blame for poor financial performance from management to workers, and a form of soft layoff targeting employees unwilling to relocate

Connections: Amazon · Meta · Roblox · Remote Work · Future Of Work · Workplace Productivity

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/return-to-office-mandates-employees-managers-fight-messy-remote-work-2023-11