13 Jan “Ordering a return”
Carrot meet stick. Stick meet carrot.
–https://fortune.com/2023/01/12/starbucks-office-mandate-ceo-howard-schultz-three-days-a-week/
Y’all didn’t listen when it was a request (the carrot) so now it’s a mandate (the stick).
Lord Elon set the stage for this last summer and it does not surprise me in the slightest to see this kind of behavior.
“Throughout his memo, Schultz called the ability to work remotely a ‘privilege,’ one not shared by those working in the company’s stores, plants, and distribution centers. The CEO made clear that the new office mandate was a ‘requirement.’
The Starbucks CEO has never been a fan of remote work. At a New York Times conference last June, Schultz complained that workers were not in the office as much as he wanted. I’ve pleaded with them. I said, I’ll get on my knees. I’ll do push-ups. Whatever you want, he noted at the time.
Since then, more companies have expanded their return-to-office mandates. Apple, Meta, Google, Goldman Sachs, and Disney are all pushing workers to come back to the office for most of the working week.” -from Fortune
I told you so . . . oh, I told you so . . . 🎶
Wow. “Default together” kinda sounds like “let’s all fail together because we’d rather fail than succeed just to prove a point to the peons.”
*slips on tinfoil hat*
IMO, part of this highlights the push away from the individual towards the collective. In other words: your individual rights, freedoms, hopes, and dreams don’t matter even half as much as the hive. ONE OF US . . . ONE OF US . . . ONE OF US . . .
“Snap was an early adherent of a remote-first policy as COVID began to spread in the U.S. But in his memo, Spiegel wrote that he worries the extended period of working from home has meant ‘we’ve forgotten what we’ve lost—and what we could gain—by spending more time together.’
Spiegel’s comments echo other remarks from corporate leaders trying to get workers commuting again. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told Fortune in February that the bank’s ‘cultural foundation’ required people to be back in the office, while JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has argued that remote work fostered dishonesty and procrastination.” -Fortune (emphasis mine)
I have warned you repeated to avoid naivete and normalcy bias. Just because a company publicly touted a WFH/WFA policy and said, “Oh yeah. We’ll never change those rules,” doesn’t make it true forever.
Last year, there were companies attempting to pull the Elon and demand a full RTO. Workers rebelled. I can’t say I would assume Q1 or Q2 of 2023 will yield the same results as the analogous time last year. And certainly no comparison to 2021.
Even though you’re told that inflation is abating (by 0.1 percent) and that maybe, just maybe, the Fed will back off and give us a soft landing, I sure wouldn’t bet the farm on that.
++++
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