RTO doesn’t improve company value, but does make employees miserable: Study::Data is consistent with bosses using RTO to reassert control and scapegoat workers.
One of the more honest arguments I have seen about RTO:
The company has rented an important building for operations.
That building is prime real-estate, which is now loosing value, because no one is using it and no one wants to buy it.
Since that can get very expensive, forcing use of the building to keep the investment stable makes sense on paper.
Result: Workers are forced back into office, to everyones detremend. Just because some guys asset is loosing value and now everyone else has to suffer because of it.
It is one of the driving forces behind RTO. There is no small amount of worry over a total collapse of the commercial real estate market. When large companies announce RTO it helps keep the commercial real estate market going.
Counter point to that is that companies that force RTO end up loosing the good employees who actually liked remote work. So the real estate is “saved” and they get a “free” layoff with no severance payouts but the company gets a brain drain.
Companies, currently, are viewing this as a net positive.
I work in IT, there the situation for corpos who want to force RTO is just a nightmare.
There are a bunch of companies waiting with open arms and better contracts to gather these disgruntled workes with knowledge in the industry. So not only do you loose a lot, your competition grows stronger at the same time.
On top of that, if you dont need to rent a huge building at high price, massively cutting costs on overhead an maintenance.
And once the bleeding starts its hard to stop: Others need to pick up more work, get pissed and then also leave for greener pastures.
All because you are stuck in the past.
