The RTO war is “over”

23 Jan The RTO war is “over”

Image by MagicDesk from Pixabay

The RTO battle is over and the WFH crowd won.  So says the MSM.

Another day, another time when Thor’s “is he though” meme feels appropriate.

CEOs give up on full-time RTO

The battle to bring workers back to the office full-time may be over. Only 6 out of 158 U.S. CEOs said they would require employees to come in on a full-time basis in 2024, according to a Conference Board survey. In addition, nearly two-thirds of CFOs expect a hybrid work arrangement to be available at their company this year. With the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco finding this month that remote work hasn’t affected productivity, Goldman Sachs economists may have been right to call remote work “the most persistent economic legacy of the pandemic.”

J.M. Smucker CEO Mark Smucker says the company’s “core weeks policy,” where employees are in the office Tuesday through Thursday every other week, has been a success.

–https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/ceos-give-up-on-full-time-rto-5651913/

Wow. CEOs have “given up” on RTO mandates. Wowee-zowee! Hurrah!

Naturally the comments section is awash with folks seal-clapping this decision.

This LI article is in turn a spin-off from Axios:

The return-to-office wars are over

Just 6 out of 158 U.S. CEOs said they’ll prioritize bringing workers back to the office full-time in 2024, according to a new survey released by the Conference Board.

–https://www.axios.com/2024/01/16/ceo-return-to-office-wars

And we know CEOs always tell the truth to John & Jane Q. Public!

😆

Of note: Even the CEOs who were loudest about the importance of in-office work are running companies with hybrid options.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has been a vocal proponent of return to office since 2020 — and while the bank’s senior executives are required to come in five days a week, other JPM office workers can be home for two days.

-Axios, Ibid.  bold type in original

Yeah . . . ole Jamie Dimon is another one I’d trust about as far as I could throw him.

Funny enough LI published this triumphant story about the RTO war on the same day as this:

Sports Illustrated’s mass layoffs

–https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/sports-illustrateds-mass-layoffs-5644249/

But hey – churnin’ and burnin’, doin’ great. Economy and labor market are still so good that bosses have given up on RTO. Yeet, yeet!

Meanwhile, down here on Earth:

Mmhmm.

So what is this hoo-ha all about really?

IMO, it’s one of two things: it’s either more gaslighting or it’s preparation for more lockdowns.

No thanks. I’d prefer to never be welcomed back to a commute. But it seems to me that the advertisers are making a reasonable bet here. In the absence of another C*v!d outbreak and/or some other justification for lockdowns, most people are goin’ back to an office. I understand this is not a popular or well-liked sentiment. Unfortunately, that’s what I see rolling down the pike. I may have been on the leading edge of predicting it, but I’m certainly not the only one seeing it now.

–https://causeyconsultingllc.com/2023/09/27/car-commercials-rto/

If we have another pandemic, WWIII, a declaration of martial law, etc., then yes, people will be sent home with a laptop again. That could happen – it is not outside the realm of possibility. And then the remote work hopium crowd will take a victory lap and act like they were right all along. In the absence of lockdowns/shutdowns on a large scale, Corpo America wants your behind back in that cubicle.

–https://causeyconsultingllc.com/2023/12/31/well-see-about-that/

I mean . . . we recently learned about “humanized mice” and another C*v!d strain that has a “100% kill rate,” so . . .  (https://nypost.com/2024/01/16/news/covid-19-strain-kills-100-of-infected-mice-in-chinese-lab-study/)

My guess is that you’re either goin’ back to the Cube Farm and this is all hot air and nonsense OR we’re goin’ back on lockdown again. Also note: the movers & shakers at Davos think Orange Man will return to the WH and they’re peachy keen with it. He gifted us with Operation Warp Speed, so maybe it’s as simple as “ya go back, Donny, and do it again,” to paraphrase Steely Dan.

I hope not, but we are living in strange days.