GM is Forcing All Workers to Return to Office By the End of Year

[313WX]

EDIT: Official press announcement in the Detroit News:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...k/69515288007/

Not sure how true it is, but that's the word I'm hearing based on my sources. It was an internal email blast right before close of business today.

This seems awfully short sighted for a company that has been struggling mightily to attract/keep talent in Michigan. I also know of so many folks who have moved out of state since the pandemic.

But worst of all, this would be a massive betrayal by Mary Barra, and a loss in trust, who has been insisting that employees could "Work Appropiately."

[Satiricalivory]

They're clearly not struggling to keep talent in Michigan if they're going to do this. Your anecdotes of people leaving the state are meaningless.

Sounds great for Detroit.

[401don]

EDIT: Official press announcement in the Detroit News:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...k/69515288007/

Not sure how true it is, but that's the word I'm hearing based on my sources. It was an internal email blast right before close of business today.

This seems awfully short sighted for a company that has been struggling mightily to attract/keep talent in Michigan. I also know of so many folks who have moved out of state since the pandemic.

But worst of all, this would be a massive betrayal by Mary Barra, and a loss in trust, who has been insisting that employees could "Work Appropiately."

I assume this would only apply to people still within commuting distance and/or who previously worked in the office. I can't see it applying to anyone living out of state hired to work remotely.

[Zacha341]

Hmm, there could be the case where the GM employee working remote left the state without telling the company?

Not a good decision if it was assumed that the virtual option was 'permanent'?

[Lowell]

To be clear they are being called back "3 days a week". I don't find that onerous. I doubt this is a deal killer causing people leaving their jobs. In fact I know a several who are happy to have some [but not all] office time with real people again.

[313WX]

I assume this would only apply to people still within commuting distance and/or who previously worked in the office. I can't see it applying to anyone living out of state hired to work remotely.

What's really shitty is that they held off on doing this not only until after the August 31st deadline for folks with pensions to retire before an interest rate change would significantly cut their benefits, and after kids have started school, but during the worst possible time of year for commuting [[in the dead of a Michigan winter).

A lot of folks here are obviously biased because they want to see more workers back downtown and staying in Michigan to help local small business and generate activity, but GM workers are quite pissed because it shows that the company sees no problem with lying and it doesn't care about their well-being.

It completely goes against the internal BS they peddle about workplace of choice and claiming employee satisfaction is their top priority.

At the very least, the massive hit in morale alone will hurt productivitya lot more than senior leadership within GM thinks. And certainly, the highly-conveted tech talent GM claims they're desperate to recruit for its EV transition will now have second thoughts about joining such a skeevy company, especially if they must choose between Sunny California or the Rust Belt.

[313WX]

To be clear they are being called back "3 days a week". I don't find that onerous. I doubt this is a deal killer causing people leaving their jobs. In fact I know a several who are happy to have some [but not all] office time with real people again.

Just to be clear, so there's no confusion, the "Work Appropiate" model that Mary Barra boasted about the past 1.5 years and claimed would be the standard going forward [[even as recently as 1 momth ago in a Global Town Hall) gave workers and their direct supervisors the flexibility to decide where they could work.

The facilities have always been open and nothing or no one stopped those workers who preferred working onsite from going into the office.

But to blanket mandate from a senior level everyone follows a strict RTO order, even when many jobs can be performed effectively in a remote fashion, is poor management if you want to keep workers happy.

[Henry Whalley]

But to blanket mandate from a senior level everyone follows a strict RTO order, even when many jobs can be performed effectively in a remote fashion, is poor management if you want to keep workers happy.

True story. I turned down a promotion that would have required me to make two sacrifices, [1] to give up remote work and, [2] to attend an ungodly number of meetings. I said that if I wanted to look at assholes all day, I would have become a proctologist. Just MHO, but YMMV.

[Satiricalivory]

To be clear they are being called back "3 days a week". I don't find that onerous. I doubt this is a deal killer causing people leaving their jobs. In fact I know a several who are happy to have some [but not all] office time with real people again.

Most people prefer to go to the office, eat lunch at a local restaurant and ya know, actually interact with society. Staying at home like a shut-in is depressing.

[Satiricalivory]

A lot of folks here are obviously biased because they want to see more workers back downtown and staying in Michigan to help local small business and generate activity, but GM workers are quite pissed because it shows that the company sees no problem with lying and it doesn't care about their well-being.

Lol like you care about GM workers and their well being. You're just mad that this is objectively great for Detroit and the city's finances. Very easy to see through the fake concerning.

[jcole]

My daughter and her husband are both engineers at GM Tech and got the email yesterday; they didn't seem to be "quite pissed"; just a little sad that they have to drive again. Also, daughter said that they get to pick their days, so that makes it better.

[Henry Whalley]

My daughter and her husband are both engineers at GM Tech and got the email yesterday; they didn't seem to be "quite pissed"; just a little sad that they have to drive again. Also, daughter said that they get to pick their days, so that makes it better.

Office work is hell IMHO. I think of the galley slave scene in Ben Hur. Ben-Hur [[1959) - Rowing of the Galley Slaves HD - YouTube

[Meddle]

^^^ I think of the opening scenes of Joe vs The Volcano.

[mwilbert]

This is just a difficult problem for companies to deal with, and there's no obvious correct decision. I do think that it's hard to get employees who feel they have been doing their jobs perfectly well at home to go back, and just saying it's required is likely to produce some discontent. But a lot of companies are doing it, so they must think there's a benefit that makes it worth annoying a substantial portion of their workforces.

Personally, I'm much happier working from home and I had negotiated that before the pandemic. If I had to go into work, I'd be regretful but I'd quit my job.

[Richard]

I think it is interesting how we are heading to the point where employees dictate to the employers,great way of pretending to own a business without the hassle of the obligations that come with it.

With a company like GM and WFH in a global economy,when one seeks to draw from the talent pool,the whole world becomes a employment base,push comes to shove and the shareholders of GM seek to cut costs who ever is in the CEOs seat will not have much to say about it.

The only thing that the rona virus has proven with WFH is companies are not restricted to drawing talent from local sources,they can just as easily hire from 5000 miles across oceans at half the salary.

GM like all companies only exist to provide a return to the investors,the automobiles that they build are just the products they produce in order to create revenue,when it comes down to it one would think the workers would oppose WFH because in the intern all they are doing is raising the acceptance level where WFH becomes the norm,an engineer in India is just as much as an engineer in the states,WFH gives him the ability to work for GM from India without having to ever step foot in the states at half the salary.

If I was an investor in GM I would also embrace WFH and as soon as the workers were comfortable with it and it became the norm as it is quickly becoming I would then be looking at cutting costs,labor is one of the highest costs and the easiest to cut when the world becomes your employment base.

The younger generation has been fortunate so far because for the most part the economy has been stable,it is easy to say if this does not happen I will quit my job,70s 80s 90s there have been times when there was no jobs and people were fortunate to have one while others lost everything they owned.

Companies across the country are laying off and not hiring,one has to wonder what chance a potential employee has when they provide a list of demands and conditions to a potential employer.

I would be Leary of doing business with companies that have a high percentage of WFH unless they could prove to me the computer security levels implemented in the process,it’s bad enough that companies cannot secure their system and now they have a bunch of employees working with unsecured systems at home that are easily accessible or employees that get liberal with private information when they are out from under the thumb of the cubicle.

I have a friend that has been doing WFH for over 10 years,she makes a good $250 k a year,but she also does WFH for another company that is the direct competition to the company she works for.

[jcole]

I honestly think part of the reason for the white collar recall to the office is because the blue collar jobs HAVE to be worked in person and there is dissention in the rank and file.

[MikeM]

I honestly think part of the reason for the white collar recall to the office is because the blue collar jobs HAVE to be worked in person and there is dissention in the rank and file.

^ This. Lots of resentment from what I've heard from those in the shops.

Plus baby boomers are still in the upper levels of management and they love to have useless meetings.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I have a friend that has been doing WFH for over 10 years, she makes a good $250 k a year, but she also does WFH for another company that is the direct competition with the company she works for.


Can she even do that? Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

[Henry Whalley]

Plus baby boomers are still in the upper levels of management and they love to have useless meetings.

IME it's not only baby boomers who love to have useless meetings. It's pretty much anyone in upper management. They have recurring dreams about being proctologists.

[Henry Whalley]

Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

Conflict of interest went out with the horse and buggy. It's been replaced by self-interest.

[Johnnny5]

My guess is GM is looking at this as a way to increase productivity and as an added bonus an easy way to trim the ranks while going into what's likely to be a dramatic slowdown in the auto industry [[And quite possibly a major recession). Either way, it'll be a boost to retailers and restaurants downtown as well as the area around the Warren Tech Center.

[313WX]

I have a friend that has been doing WFH for over 10 years, she makes a good $250 k a year, but she also does WFH for another company that is the direct competition with the company she works for.


Can she even do that? Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

Is it unethical? Maybe. But when companies can get away with so much unethical stuff [[see OP for Exhibit A), who really cares?

Is it illegal? No.

[Jimaz]

I have a friend that has been doing WFH for over 10 years, she makes a good $250 k a year, but she also does WFH for another company that is the direct competition with the company she works for.

Can she even do that? Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

I posted a related video back in July.

[Richard]

^ This. Lots of resentment from what I've heard from those in the shops.

Plus baby boomers are still in the upper levels of management and they love to have useless meetings.

From what I hear from the boomers the meetings are required because the younger generation as employees have to be Woke and cannot figure out who or what they are or what they want to be called, so senseless meetings about pro nouns and such must occur.

Every week it seems like there is a new trigger word discovered.

[Richard]

I have a friend that has been doing WFH for over 10 years, she makes a good $250 k a year, but she also does WFH for another company that is the direct competition with the company she works for.


Can she even do that? Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

If I was her employer I would fire her,not only is she working for the primary but she is also working for the secondary on the primaries dime.

It would probably be different if she was taking care of accounts strictly on a per account level in contract but she gets a base for the 40 hours then residuals from each account.

That company switched to WFH back in 2008 and closed all of their brick and mortar locations in the different states.

At first they had required meetings via virtual,but now they have required one meeting a month at a physical location in each state,the hard rock casino was the last one,so they are also requiring at least a physical appearance once a month.