Get Back to the Office! Now!

By Robin Itzler 

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors. Any cartoons appearing will have been added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK

Oh, the inhumanity of making employees show up to work in the office where the boss can see them, and they can interact with fellow employees! Dan Schawbel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence and a bestselling author, believes there’s another reason for return to office (RTO) mandates in the public and private sector:

“Companies would never come out and say it because of legal implication. A company might use a return office mandate as an opportunity to restructure its workforce.”

A sample of companies seeking RTO include:

• Amazon: In September 2024, CEO Andy Jassy informed employees that they had to return to working five days per week in the office.
• Apple: CEO Tim Cook went with a hybrid approach in 2022, instructing employees to work in the office at least three days a week.
• AT&T: In December 2024, the company announced that beginning in 2025 employees had to be in the office five days a week.
• BlackRock: The world’s largest asset manager recently required that employees work inside the office at least four days a week.
• Boeing: In early 2024, workers were told they had to be in the office five days a week.
• Citigroup: The company had only allowed 600 U.S. employees to work from home. In May 2024, they informed them they had to return to the office.
• Dell: Its sales staff is now required to be in the office five days a week.
• Disney: When Bob Iger returned as CEO in 2023, he announced that employees had to return to the office.
• Starbucks: Late 2024, corporate employees were told they needed to return to the office. Recently, the company announced it would be laying off hundreds of corporate employees (not barristers).
• Southwest Airlines: Starting in 2025, corporate employees had to work in the office a minimum of four days, preferably five.
• Washington Post: In November 2024, the WaPo told employees they were expected to work full-time in the office.

Read In Memory of Their Spirits! USS Cole, by Katherine Daigle.