Company forces worker to commute 40 minutes 2/week just to sit in a room alone taking Zoom meetings

Would you commute to an office just to sit in a room by yourself?

There has been a big push back to the office in the last couple of years, for reasons that sometimes seem mysterious. It's unclear how much of an impact it has on productivity, but many workers have become comfortable with working from home. It saves them money and time and makes life just a little more flexible. But some jobs require you to be in person. And you can't help that. You're collaborating with your coworkers in real time, and that's a lot easier if you're in the same room. But not all jobs are that way. Some jobs require you mostly to work independently, or take meetings online because none of you are in the same place. But what if you had to commute to a job just to do that?

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  • A man works on a laptop in an empty office building
    via Blake Wisz

  • I drive 40 minutes to sit in a room alone because the office has a "minimum presence" policy.

    I want to describe my Tuesdays and Thursdays so someone can explain to me how this makes sense. I wake up at 6:15. Make coffee in a thermos because i won't have time to drink it at home. Get dressed in office clothes for the first time since Sunday. Drive 40 minutes on the freeway in traffic that makes the 40 minutes feel closer to an hour.
    via Wide_Gold8240
  • I badge in at 8:05. Walk to my assigned desk on the 3rd floor. Nobody from my actual team is in the building. They're spread across Austin, Portland, and one person in Dublin. I sit down, open my laptop, and log into Zoom.
    via Wide_Gold8240
  • I spend the entire morning on Zoom calls with people who are also not in the building. Or not in the same building. Or working from home because their presence days are different from mine. At lunch I eat a sandwich in the break room alone because the two people I actually like on this floor come in on Mondays and Wednesdays.
    via Wide_Gold8240
  • After lunch I have 3 more Zoom calls. I could mute myself and hear my own voice echo off the empty cubicles around me if i wanted to. I don't because that would be depressing. I leave at 5. Drive 55 minutes home because the afternoon traffic is worse. Sit in my driveway for a minute because I'm annoyed and need to not bring that energy inside.
    via Wide_Gold8240
  • The company calls this "maintaining team cohesion." I have not had a single meaningful in person interaction on a presence day in 5 months. Can someone who makes these policies just explain what exactly they think is happening?
    via Wide_Gold8240

  • Commuting can be a big source of stress in one's life. It can make your mornings and evenings just a little bit worse if you have a bad one. It can send stress signals right through your body, and you have to spend the whole day trying to shake it off. It's no joke. Plus, it can ruin the end of a long day. You've spent 8 hours dealing with problems at work, and then you leave and immediately hit traffic. It's not a good way to unwind. But we all make sacrifices for our jobs, and it's a matter of what you're willing to put up with. But that doesn't mean you can't ask for what you want. If you never did, then nobody would give it to you. If you don't advocate on your own behalf, then nobody will. Especially at work. But this employee was left feeling powerless, wondering what they could do to better their situation. So they reached out to the internet for some answers, which it tried to provide. Everyone needs a second opinion sometimes, and it might just teach you a lot about your own situation. Keep reading to see what happened here and see what you think about it. 

  • Commenters rang in with their takes.

    Dragon_wryter Gotta prop up those property values somehow!
    via Dragon_wryter
  • A man works on a laptop in a big meeting room
    via Blake Wisz

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • ArcticDelight I was formerly remote and have to do this 5x a week now. Commute is 30 min drive + 30 min train ride. No one that I work with is there, so I'm on Teams all day. Most days, I don't say a single word to anyone except "good morning" to
    via ArcticDelight
  • the security guard. I'm a federal employee, so this was pushed by DOGE for "efficiency". Pisses me off that everyone's tax dollars are paying for my useless office space and train fare ($200+/mo), plus I get to waste 2 hrs everyday commuting. If anything, my work performance has gone down since RTO.
    via ArcticDelight
  • afatgreekcat An exec who supports RTO would read this and decide the solution is just to make everyone be in the office 4 or 5 days
    via afatgreekcat
  • warlocktx just stop going in and see what happens
    via warlocktx
  • upperplayfield They think the opposite of this is happening. Decide if you can handle this or not. Cause if you complain, they likely won't switch it to a different day.....they'll add another.
    via upperplayfield
  • GapSlight472 When I worked in a hybrid role before moving to my full remote job the team was allowed to come in on the same days at least to talk and have meaningful connections, we werent originally scheduled that way but our manager said it
    via GapSlight472
  • was fine and we never made a big deal of it. Is your manager unwilling to go to bat for you and allow you to at least switch to Mon/Wed so you can enjoy a little company? If not thats wild.
    via GapSlight472
  • GW_RDSOFA Tuesday and Wednesday I have to be in the office. Get up extra early to care for pets, make coffee, BEGIN WORK at home. Close laptop and put in bag. Drive 45 to 1 hour spending 4 dollar a gallon gas. Resent every minute of it. Arrive. Lights are off until I walk in the room. What I do requires
    via GW_RDSOFA
  • one person for the whole company and that person is me. Nobody to collaborate with. Participate in training that has nothing to do with my job, but is relevant to the responsibilities they want me to do over and above my job for nothing extra. Rest of the "team" is scattered all over the country. Weekly
    via GW_RDSOFA
  • team meeting. Weekly project meeting or meetings. Sometimes I have a ticket that is a puzzle to solve, sometimes I have a task that lets me be somewhat creative, which I love. Break room is bare, no snacks, no thing but a coffee machine.
    via GW_RDSOFA
  • Fast until dinnertime, because I want to but also out of spite. No time to leave for lunch anyway. Play on this phone. Laptop in bag again. Drive that same hour back home, be available for emergencies til 6ish.
    via GW_RDSOFA
  • NclScrewtape RTO was about eliminating headcount without layoffs. If they can get you to resign or terminate you for non- compliance, they are not required to pay severance benefits.
    via NclScrewtape
  • Katniss Everduh I think the split-day policy is nuts, but 2 day RTO isn't bad, we're at 4 now, started at 3. But we all have to be in the same days - I think if the company doesn't have enough space for actual RTO, they should plan it more intelligently with people who actually work. together in-office or not do it at all. This policy is aggravating.
    via KatnissEverduh
  • Psychological-Ru... If there's no badging out, just badge in and go back to WFH.
    via Psychological-Rub959
  • runslow0148 I work for the federal government and was remote. You described my day perfectly (we even have similar commute times). Only difference is I go in 5 days a week..
    via runslow0148
  • yoooooooo0000 You should drive home during your lunch break
    via yoooooooo0000
  • thebeautifulba... Do they count badges in and out? You could always leave at lunch. I hear lots of Amazon folks do that.
    via thebeautifulbanker
  • BigFudge2k7 Dumb. I'm fortunate that my company has not required any return to office, but if they did I would be in the same situation. I have 2 people on my team(s) the other 15 or so people I work with are not local.
    via BigFudge2k7
  • c-5-s They could reassign you to a main office and then your choice would be move or quit. How bad is this by comparison?
    via c-5-s
  • tjc442000 have you talked to anyone at the company about this, or are you just venting on this board? curious what management has told you. Maybe you frame it as "I could save the company $X per week by working from home full time". Ultimately,
    via tjc442000
  • it's up to you, if you don't think you can change the situation, you should look for a new job elsewhere. If you you can handle it, though, maybe two days per week isn't too bad.
    via tjc442000

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