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Can someone tell me what the point of RTO is? These companies made insane profits during the pandemic and when everyone was WFH. Why rock the boat? Is it just c

Can someone tell me what the point of RTO is? These companies made insane profits during the pandemic and when everyone was WFH. Why rock the boat? Is it just corporate real estate prices? Is that all it comes down to?

baketnk 1y ago
software development generally is no longer a standard tax write-off; it has to be amortized now.
owebmaster 1y ago
Soft layoffs. Now with most of the software "done", big tech doesn't need an army of engineers. Revenue is not going to go up strong anymore so only way to increase profit is cutting cost.
- know-how 1y ago
  [dead]
pm90 1y ago
exec ego mostly. There’s been no real effort to show supposed benefits of rto, just platitudes(“we work better as a team from the same location!”).
- trollbridge 1y ago
  And usually from executives who seem to be away on "business trips" more often than not and when they join a Zoom, they're obviously in their home office.
  - steveBK123 1y ago
    Or have “offices” built down the block from their home with seating for 2 (gotta include their admin).
  - ryandrake 1y ago
    The hypocrisy of telling your employees they need to work in the office… via Zoom, from your third home in Aspen.
    - bluefirebrand 1y ago
      From their point of view it's not hypocrisy, it is their privilege to do whatever they want because they are in charge
- know-how 1y ago
  [dead]
_mlbt 1y ago
In addition to the excellent points already made by others, some of it just comes down to the simple reality that some people are very poor performers in remote work settings. They should be dealt with individually on a case by case basis, but unfortunately blanket RTO mandates are much easier.
- steveBK123 1y ago
  9/10 of employees who are poor performers remote were also poor in office, you just notice it more now.
marnett 1y ago
Municipalities where the office is located threatening higher taxation if they don’t return to office. Mostly corporations who own their buildings are impacted. A lot of people cite executive ego which I think is not entirely the case. But the board and execs are capitalist, and likely are financially incentivized by their holdings and portfolios to have a successful commercial real estate market and active municipal economy.
- lotsofpulp 1y ago
  Source? I have yet to see a single US government levy taxes as a function of how many employees work within their jurisdiction. I don’t even understand how the logistics of that would work, nor if it would be legal, and especially politically unpopular since now small businesses are getting hit with taxes simply for being small.
  - ryandrake 1y ago
    Yea this seems like an urban legend. I’d love to see a link showing this happening.
  - scuol 1y ago
    This is a state thing, usually some N-year break an payroll taxes if they have M people working in the office. These deals are really about butts-in-seats unfortunately, and there is usually a non-trivial clawback clause. Source: I was hired by a well-known hyperscalar cloud company that didn't want to send me to HQ, but wanted to place me at some random remote satellite offices. I looked into why, and it was this payroll / other tax break by the locality. (I sorta forced them to send me to HQ, as I don't deal with the heat / humidity well in the remote locations, which were in the US south).
    - lotsofpulp 1y ago
      That is not an example of: > threatening higher taxation if they don’t return to office.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 1y ago
oarla 1y ago
At least in some locations it's to justify holding on to real estate that has skyrocketed in last decade.
anarticle 1y ago
We're in a time where all CEOs have to do "the current thing" because now there is no free money to paper over bad decisions. When the hammer drops, board is going to take inventory and say: "did you do these four things that everyone else was doing?", if one of those things is NOT implement RTO, they are out. This is a common groupthink problem at the top, encouraged by Linkedin thought pieces by similarly out of touch people, or whatever the flavor of the month book idea is. It comes and goes in waves, this is just a current trend we have to surf.
bluecheese452 1y ago
Control and power.

baketnk 1y ago

software development generally is no longer a standard tax write-off; it has to be amortized now.

owebmaster 1y ago

Soft layoffs. Now with most of the software "done", big tech doesn't need an army of engineers. Revenue is not going to go up strong anymore so only way to increase profit is cutting cost.

know-how 1y ago
[dead]

pm90 1y ago

exec ego mostly. There’s been no real effort to show supposed benefits of rto, just platitudes(“we work better as a team from the same location!”).

trollbridge 1y ago
And usually from executives who seem to be away on "business trips" more often than not and when they join a Zoom, they're obviously in their home office.
- steveBK123 1y ago
  Or have “offices” built down the block from their home with seating for 2 (gotta include their admin).
- ryandrake 1y ago
  The hypocrisy of telling your employees they need to work in the office… via Zoom, from your third home in Aspen.
  - bluefirebrand 1y ago
    From their point of view it's not hypocrisy, it is their privilege to do whatever they want because they are in charge
know-how 1y ago
[dead]

_mlbt 1y ago

In addition to the excellent points already made by others, some of it just comes down to the simple reality that some people are very poor performers in remote work settings. They should be dealt with individually on a case by case basis, but unfortunately blanket RTO mandates are much easier.

steveBK123 1y ago
9/10 of employees who are poor performers remote were also poor in office, you just notice it more now.

marnett 1y ago

Municipalities where the office is located threatening higher taxation if they don’t return to office. Mostly corporations who own their buildings are impacted. A lot of people cite executive ego which I think is not entirely the case. But the board and execs are capitalist, and likely are financially incentivized by their holdings and portfolios to have a successful commercial real estate market and active municipal economy.

lotsofpulp 1y ago
Source? I have yet to see a single US government levy taxes as a function of how many employees work within their jurisdiction. I don’t even understand how the logistics of that would work, nor if it would be legal, and especially politically unpopular since now small businesses are getting hit with taxes simply for being small.
- ryandrake 1y ago
  Yea this seems like an urban legend. I’d love to see a link showing this happening.
- scuol 1y ago
  This is a state thing, usually some N-year break an payroll taxes if they have M people working in the office. These deals are really about butts-in-seats unfortunately, and there is usually a non-trivial clawback clause. Source: I was hired by a well-known hyperscalar cloud company that didn't want to send me to HQ, but wanted to place me at some random remote satellite offices. I looked into why, and it was this payroll / other tax break by the locality. (I sorta forced them to send me to HQ, as I don't deal with the heat / humidity well in the remote locations, which were in the US south).
  - lotsofpulp 1y ago
    That is not an example of: > threatening higher taxation if they don’t return to office.
NoMoreNicksLeft 1y ago

oarla 1y ago

At least in some locations it's to justify holding on to real estate that has skyrocketed in last decade.

anarticle 1y ago

We're in a time where all CEOs have to do "the current thing" because now there is no free money to paper over bad decisions. When the hammer drops, board is going to take inventory and say: "did you do these four things that everyone else was doing?", if one of those things is NOT implement RTO, they are out. This is a common groupthink problem at the top, encouraged by Linkedin thought pieces by similarly out of touch people, or whatever the flavor of the month book idea is. It comes and goes in waves, this is just a current trend we have to surf.

bluecheese452 1y ago

Control and power.