Correction: Dell wants to layoff people, but is hoping they can be persuaded to quit without severance or unemployment.
this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2025
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Technically, Dell had already required its sales, manufacturing, and lab engineers to return to office. The email cites the “new speed, energy, and passion” from those teams as a reason for implementing it company-wide globally.
LOL. It's like Brian from office space.
The fact that the remote (i.e. not Austin) offices are already overcrowded was lost on that dipshit Michael Dell. This is about control and making people quit. Then they'll backfill everyone with someone cheaper from outside the US. Most of their software engineers are from outside the US.
Yep, especially now that the government has signaled relaxing H1B regulations....
I don't get this at all. I understand that some people like working in the office, but remote work improves the mental health of a lot of people, and it seems like you'd want to keep workers rather than exercise dominion over them.
But what do I know? I only watched dozens of people with decades of experience leave for remote work after my own company tried to force everyone back (only to walk it back and go to hybrid work).
Bodies in buildings.
Real estate.
I hate how much this resembles current US business culture.
and it seems like you’d want to keep workers rather than exercise dominion over them.
They don't want to keep workers. Most of the RTO operations are pseudo-stealth layoffs. Companies want to reduce headcount and this is a way to make people leave without having to pay out severance or unemployment insurance claims. So this is cheaper for the company.
I should remind everyone that this is one of the most unethical ways to handle the people who have made money for the company they served for years. Any company that uses this strategy deserves to be bankrupt, and their leadership be made poor.
If they can't treat their employees like human beings, they deserve no future success.
It’s also worth noting that pseudo-layoffs like this often lose the best people first. Those who have the most options
The sad thing is, for companies on the scale of Dell, performance of individual workers (those who actually create value, maybe their direct superiors) is almost irrelevant.
There's so much red tape, so much "aligning", meetings, pointless communication and pointless rituals that hardly anyone gets anything done. And in those 5min you're doing actual work, it's almost irrelevant how good you are.
I hadn't considered that. My company, though large, is private and doesn't have to appease shareholders, so they still see value in keeping skilled employees.
remote work improves the mental health
I worked with the most toxic managers on the planet. They don't want you to have any kind of mental health. They are crazy, they have money, and power.
Making wage slaves uncomfortable is the feature of this trick
The trick only works if they can convince you that you are trapped with no alternative.
For most people, the alternative is unemployment with the bonus of not eating.
Maybe. That's certainly the fear they're hoping you give into, and it's the same rationale they'd use to disparage a union forming.
Indeed... Mid level paper pushers are in demand right now tho esp competent ones.
They will exist and get another job.
I think it's about depressing wages more than anything. Companies know WFH works just as well. But they also know people like it quite a bit. They have it away for free, by making in office default they can negotiate lower wages for people who really want to work from home.
Or hire people who are willing to work for less in the office, under the thumb of a micromanager
Performatively disciplining labor, as the NLRB is dismantled in the background...
nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction. A thirty second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days,
That shit is just not true
How much time I waste on the telephone or senseless meetings, which could be really answered by text, wouldn't occupy a couple of people for an hour and I wouldn't need to be ripped out of focus ...
Maybe it really depends on the kind of work we're talking about. But managers sometimes don't seem to understand that I need to get an idea/concept in my head down in code (or at least some notes) right now, because it could be lost forever and it will take hours to get back to the a viable solution.
But yeah, just quickly call me about some stupid contract thing, where a translation isn't correct...
I was in a meeting yesterday afternoon that I could have summarized in two paragraphs.
In fact, I did summarize it in 2 paragraphs earlier that day. And sent it to everyone on the invite.
Imagine my surprise when all 12 people start panicking because they don't know the answer to something I put in the email. Turns out no one even read it.
That's why they like in-person meetings. So they don't have to read.
Yeah, that's the worst of it
How much time I spent writing eloborated mails, never got an answer, only to here in a meeting, the someone immediately demands answers and estimations from me - which I sent out to all members of this fucking meeting 2 weeks ago
"this could have been a meeting" said no one ever.
Saving that one.
which could be really answered by text
Also chitchat has no records, only emails count when your boss is pushing you in front of the bus because he fucked up big time. How many time have I seen people say "I never said that you're lying" when their little project failed...
Exactly!
I was accepted a proposed timeline based on promised resources, which I never got.
And when shit hit the fan, they just said, but it's your timeline?!
That was the point, where I promised myself, I'll do nothing important anymore on the phone, because I'll need written evidence.
And just a few months later, I was in that exact position, where I was blamed that something wasn't ready, which was promised to the customer.
But as I had everything written in mails, what I've promised to accomplish, I could show, that everything there was actually finished and only the stuff managers promised, which I have objected to, was just horse shit.
Can't trust anyone.
They will act friendly on the phone, just to throw you under the bus, when the heat comes up.
I love my coworkers but I've been bitten in the past and now I only trust emails, even for small projects and even if I can't be fired.
In the past, the CTO of a company destroyed the Linux servers by putting random commands in bash (he only knew Windows). They tried to put the blame on me, I printed all the emails where I warned them that it was the worst idea ever and said something like "you suck, it's your fault, don't try to sue me, I quit." There is no need to put your whole life (personal and money) in danger because one idiot cannot do his job.
Oh totally, I’d much rather chat or text. Instead of having some long ass meeting, or being dragged into a meeting that really didn’t need you.
I find it much more offending, when I'm the only one in the meeting who talks, because nobody knows shit, and afterwards they aren't even able to write the stuff I said in their stupid document. So they send me the document - on some share of course, because we're all working together - so I could have just skipped the meeting and written/filled out their fucking document in the first place.
And when that shit is actually finished, they spent 15 minutes congratulating each other how important this was and how great everyone did.
While nobody of them actually did anything, because they couldn't understand a word.
I'm just so fucking sick of it...
Yes in that way school did really prepare you for real life with group projects. 😅
The thing is, there are some 30 second conversations that are more prodictive but they are few and far between. They mostly involve people who have trouble communicating via text because they assume a bunch of intent and additional context that doesn't exist. Those types of people love working in offices and gossiping and writing articles about how awesome office work is.
It is one of those 'can be true, but not that often when people communicate' situations. Plus it leaves the opportunity for people to remember their own version of the conversation...
They mostly involve people who have trouble communicating via text because they assume a bunch of intent and additional context that doesn't exist.
Weirdly enough, this is exactly the kind of people who will insist on being super empathetic and having super high emotional intelligence.
If people would be able to actually formulate their question, a text based conversation would be quite more productive.
But as they usually don't even really know what they want to know and only have a vague idea, they need to talk, so they can get down to the point of their original problem.
As a technician/sw dev this usually the problem, when managers call me.
They call, because they have a problem they don't understand. If they would have a clue, I could give a short precise answer.
But because they lack the correct words or don't even really know what the problem is, they want to talk, so they can hide their incompetence and guide the conversation to their actual problem.
Maybe I'm just really pissed after all those years of senseless calls.
To be fair, I sometimes also use calls, when I need fast answers. But then it either really is a fast call or I have a discussion about a problem, where I'm not exactly sure how to proceed and need a second opinion.
And that's the point. I'm not sure on those cases on how to proceed and need a discussion. Just like the people calling me.
But their questions are usually none to be discussed, but only not well formulated, because they don't know their shit.
I don't have anything against colleagues calling me for help and I spent 30mins discussing possible approaches.
But being on the phone for something that would be much better handled per text, because my answer is maybe complex and then I need to send it out as mail anyway, because my counterpart doesn't understand it... This is just a waste of time, because of incompetence
Yeah, and those same people are the reason most meetings suck. Good meetings exist when eveyone is on the same page or are able to get up to speed quickly instead of dancing around whatever the actual topic is. Or doing those stupid 'teambuilding' time wasters and try to make everyone else care about sports.
Yeah... Start of the year is always an exercise in patience, when everyone spends 20mins to just wish everyone a new year and how their holidays were.
For fucking Christ, I've better things to do then this bullshit pseudo socializing, that's absolutely worth nothing.
Will happily drink a beer with some of my colleagues, but that shit is just wasting time professionally
Have they ever heard of Teams calls. I swear managers are so out of touch it's not funny
Sadly most of my meetings are now on fucking teams
I really detest this garbage
Hate them almost as much as in-person meetings lol