Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

‘No way I’m going back in the office’: Farmers Insurance told workers they’d be WFH permanently. Now they need to come in 3 days a week
MSN ^ | 28 June 2023 | Braden Bjella

Posted on 06/28/2023 11:25:15 AM PDT by Vigilanteman

The return to in-office work has not gone well. As detailed by Entrepreneur, companies that have forced workers back into the office are currently facing a litany of issues ranging from employee dissatisfaction to difficulty hiring.

“Unispace finds that nearly half (42%) of companies that mandated office returns witnessed a higher level of employee attrition than they had anticipated,” writes author Gleb Tsipursky. “And almost a third (29%) of companies enforcing office returns are struggling with recruitment.”

For the companies who are considering returning to the office, the outlook isn’t great.

“According to the same Greenhouse report, a staggering 76% of employees stand ready to jump ship if their companies decide to pull the plug on flexible work schedules,” Tsipursky details. “Moreover, employees from historically underrepresented groups are 22% more likely to consider other options if flexibility goes out the window.”

Even though the data shows that ending remote work will bring issues for companies, that hasn’t stopped several major companies from trying. One such company is Farmers, which captured headlines and sparked reactions across the internet after reversing its remote work policy and forcing employees to come into the office 3 days a week.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News; Travel
KEYWORDS: change; cities; office; wfh
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-108 next last
To: Reno89519
A lot of people refuse to go back into the office due to the rampant crime, filth, and general revulsion of dealing with conditions plaguing the big cities. Others refuse due to costs associated with going in, especially if they really are not needed to be physically in the office to perform their job functions.

BTW, this includes people who went into work everyday, without hesitation. Covid changed everything. Has nothing to do with being lazy or entitled for them.

61 posted on 06/28/2023 4:02:42 PM PDT by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: qwerty1234
If you don’t do what the people paying you want to do, then by definition, you are certainly NOT on of their very best people. What is best for you personally, is not necessarily best for the company....I write the checks, I get to decide the rules - you get to decide if you accept my terms; it is a pretty simple transaction.

If you have rare skills that are in demand or a lot of experience in an area where that is highly desirable and hard to find, you ARE one of the company's more valuable employees.

When your skills are in demand in the market, you have leverage with employers and can choose to simply not accept any employer who does not meet your terms. In a competitive market, either other companies will have to meet your terms or you're not that valuable and will have to knuckle under and accept their terms. I've never had to accept their terms. Somebody - usually multiple somebodies - have always been willing to accept my terms.

I love capitalism.

62 posted on 06/28/2023 4:06:26 PM PDT by FLT-bird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: larrytown
Isn't that the truth - the world cannot change for the better since we didn't benefit.

Ding! You've just put your finger on a lot of the comments here.

63 posted on 06/28/2023 4:07:39 PM PDT by FLT-bird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego
Do you have unique, high demand job skills, which gives you leverage to not accept a project which is not 100% remote? And since you mention projects, are you some sort of freelance or independent contractor, rather than an employee when you are at work?

I'm a contractor. I work for banks in risk management and regulatory reporting. That wasn't so sexy 10-15 years ago but it has gotten a lot more in recent years. Also, I got the degrees they want to see and I have over 20 years experience. I'm certainly not unique or anything but there just aren't enough of us - especially with baby boomers retiring in droves - with the degrees and experience they want.

Its really wonderful because the shoe was very much on the other foot during the Great Recession and I was the one who was getting kicked in the teeth for years. Now I have choices.

64 posted on 06/28/2023 4:11:49 PM PDT by FLT-bird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

WFH?


65 posted on 06/28/2023 4:17:49 PM PDT by Fledermaus (It's time to get rid of the Three McStooges; Mitch, Kevin and Ronna!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

Nevermind, figured it out.


66 posted on 06/28/2023 4:18:30 PM PDT by Fledermaus (It's time to get rid of the Three McStooges; Mitch, Kevin and Ronna!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: discostu

Not one major corporation fought the government in court. They were in on the coup.


67 posted on 06/28/2023 4:28:41 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck (Biden will mess up the Ukraine worse than Afghanistan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeWarrior

Agreed.


68 posted on 06/28/2023 4:43:48 PM PDT by grimalkin (Communism is the final logic of the dehumanization of man. -Fulton J. Sheen)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: discostu

“team work happens best in person.”

Teams. I hate teams. Teams slow me down.


69 posted on 06/28/2023 4:54:18 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: subterfuge

“He didn’t agree.”

Sounds like you have a retarded boss. A sixth grader could figure that out in a heartbeat.


70 posted on 06/28/2023 4:58:55 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: wildcard_redneck

“Corporations caved like little bitches to the unconstitutional lockdowns and now they can reap the whirlwind. To hell with them”

Well said.

I know that teachers aren’t corporations, but double-hell to those lazy slouches.


71 posted on 06/28/2023 5:11:25 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

Place I worked, I did nights, weekends and holidays. One office even had blast curtains on the windows.

Best job I was ever going to get.


72 posted on 06/28/2023 5:20:28 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wildcard_redneck
People working remote often moved to places that they liked, such as the countryside, and changing the rules back is both specious and malicious. Let the downtown cores ruled by parasite politicians die a slow, lingering death.

Over ten years ago, long before Covid, we were allowed to work remotely and my team lead bought a fully tricked out Motor Home to travel anywhere he wanted to go.

73 posted on 06/28/2023 6:14:26 PM PDT by higgmeister (In the Shadow of The Big Chicken!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego

“personal collaboration with others is needed to accomplish the tasks, then work from home doesn’t work so well.”

This is a myth.

The last few years before I retired I worked with a virtual team from all over the country.

It allowed subject matter experts to solve previously “impossible” problems.

Working remotely as a team is a learned skill—but very doable and can be amazingly productive.


74 posted on 06/28/2023 6:31:55 PM PDT by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: higgmeister

I just got a 100% remote consulting/programming contract for 1 year. I plan to buy Musk StarLink internet, a truck, and a camper and just travel and work wherever.


75 posted on 06/28/2023 6:35:07 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck (Biden will mess up the Ukraine worse than Afghanistan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: Reno89519
Sorry, deal with it. If workers won’t go back to the office when requested, they should be replaced.

If you were told that WFH would be permanent and your productivity hasn't dropped, and in fact went up as it did in many cases, why would RTO be mandated?

The large multi-national bank is grappling with this right now. We were told WFH would be permanent. Productivity went UP largely due to people working the time they'd otherwise be commuting which here in the Shitcago area is about 45 minutes each way for most, which was 1.5 hours/day on average that the bank got in return for WFH.

Many worked weekends to complete emergency changes and work on large projects that needed to be done to support WFH and make that more efficient for everyone. It was all wildly successful.

Now, our employer wants to renig on the WFH promise?

We've already seen more than 700 people leave the bank because of it since January. More leave each week.

Kinda counter-intuitive to tell people to return to the office "or else" and then be surprised when those employees give you the middle finger and say "here's your or else!" on their way out the door.

That's not anecdotal evidence, it's fact. And it's happening in a lot of places including financial services, telecom, insurance and more.

So good luck with your attitude and next time you're getting shitty service somewhere, thank your attitude.

76 posted on 06/28/2023 6:41:32 PM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: dead
Big insurance and finance companies are ordering people back into the office because they are trying to keep the commercial real estate market, in which they are heavily invested, from a total collapse.

Hey dead! Great to see you!

You're 1,000% right. They're trying to prop up the REIT's because that's the next big collapse and they know it.

77 posted on 06/28/2023 6:42:42 PM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: usconservative

In over 20 years dealing with remote workers, few, very few, did as much work as in-office workers. They were out-of-sight, out-of-mind, useless for the most part. Sure, there may be exceptions, but they are few and far between.


78 posted on 06/28/2023 6:47:10 PM PDT by Reno89519 (DeSantis 2024. Successful Governor, Honorable Veteran, Respectful, Respected.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: usconservative

...besides, once you start hiring remote workers, easier for too many companies to off-shore those jobs for a fraction of the money required to pay for an American. Look at IT in particular, but true in other jobs.


79 posted on 06/28/2023 6:49:10 PM PDT by Reno89519 (DeSantis 2024. Successful Governor, Honorable Veteran, Respectful, Respected.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: Reno89519
...besides, once you start hiring remote workers, easier for too many companies to off-shore those jobs for a fraction of the money required to pay for an American. Look at IT in particular, but true in other jobs.

That's been happening long before Covid came around. In financial services, the work getting outsourced & offshored is the repetitive back-office work that hasn't been automated yet.

The kind of work I do isn't outsourced nor will it be. IT Strategy, Cloud Migration and InfoSec functions will remain on-shore and on-prem with FTE's. These are not functions that get outourced or offshored because contractors aren't accountable. They're commodities doing commodity work.

80 posted on 06/28/2023 6:53:25 PM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-108 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson