RTO: WTAF

#1

Post by tags2k » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 8:56 AM UTC

RTO: WTAF
wordsrightman.beehiiv.com

Re: RTO: WTAF

#2

Post by varispeed » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:44 AM UTC

People who have to be in the office should also object to RTO. Needless commuting clogs the roads and public transport. Fewer commuters mean less chance of being stuck in traffic and a better chance of getting a seat.

Re: RTO: WTAF

#3

Post by yladiz » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:44 AM UTC

If the tone of the article wasn’t so flippant I’d maybe have read all the way through it. I’m not going to read an article that sounds like it’s written by a petulant child.

Re: RTO: WTAF

#4

Post by pjmlp » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:49 AM UTC

And the worse of all, is that in most cases the work is exactly the same, and there is no collaboration on the office, because the team is geographically distributed anyway, so the only thing changing are the location of the video calls, and with whom to chat during coffee breaks.

Re: RTO: WTAF

#5

Post by hasperdi » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:50 AM UTC

varispeed wrote: post #2

People who have to be in the office should also object to RTO. Needless commuting clogs the roads and public transport. Fewer commuters mean less chance of being stuck in traffic and a better chance of getting a seat.

Also... commuting is much less eco friendly

Re: RTO: WTAF

#6

Post by low_key » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:50 AM UTC

It's cheaper than layoffs?

Re: RTO: WTAF

#7

Post by MarcelOlsz » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:54 AM UTC

yladiz wrote: post #3

If the tone of the article wasn’t so flippant I’d maybe have read all the way through it. I’m not going to read an article that sounds like it’s written by a petulant child.

So don't? I like the humor in it.

Re: RTO: WTAF

#8

Post by interpol_p » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:54 AM UTC

We have some sort of hybrid policy. Every single time I have showed up at the office, I either end up socialising far too much and get nothing done (I find it extremely hard to work next to people without talking to them).

Or nobody is there and I end up having driven (40 minutes each way) to the office to have Teams meetings with a wonderful view of the car park, under fluorescent lights, using a cheap low-resolution office monitor. When I could have been having those Teams meetings with a view of my garden and a much nicer monitor I have invested in

Re: RTO: WTAF

#9

Post by gabesullice » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:54 AM UTC

I'm genuinely interested in why RTO is trending. I searched Harvard Business Review, Gartner, and other sources just last week trying to find the rationale, but I wasn't successful. In fact, I found those sources to be a little cautionary. E.g., they say "if you do switch to in-office or hybrid, make sure you actually have metrics to evaluate the effects" and "ensure it makes sense for the actual work to be done by each role".

I also found results suggesting flexible working policies had positive properties like higher employee satisfaction, retention , and a wider applicant pool.

I'm not interested in hearing why the choir here at HN thinks companies are making these decisions, I want to see evidence of their rationale so I can put myself in management's shoes.

Re: RTO: WTAF

#10

Post by threemux » Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 9:54 AM UTC

> employees who now have to spend money on [...] childcare

Excuse me, what? Unless he's referring to something like before and after school care for an older child, he's saying people were foregoing daycare for their young children? As a parent of two children younger than kindergarten age, I don't understand how productive remote work was being done without childcare.