Such transparent manipulation to get managers to quit without severance.

1. Allow workers to work remotely
2. Shutter local offices
3. Mandate #returnToOffice
4. Attrition!

Remember that this is not the first time IBM pulled this trick. They did the same thing in 2017, when they were being hailed as an innovative company for reducing cost by not having physical offices. They forced people to RTO and caused a bunch of people to quit without severance.

“IBM to managers: Move close to an office or quit”

#remoteWork #flexibleWork

fortune.com/2024/01/29/ibm-rem…

IBM to managers: Move close to an office or quit

Their other option is to leave the company.

^{Brody Ford (Fortune)}

WebMD’s parent company, Internet Brands, released a cringey and abusive internal video threatening their employees to #returnToOffice. “We aren’t asking or negotiating at this point”, the CEO says. “Don’t mess with us”, the video reads at the end. The video features employees dancing and celebrating RTO (at gunpoint? or at least under threat of firing by HR?).

I know corporate videos are all kinda crappy, but this one is…spouse-beating levels of terrible.

#flexibleWork #remoteWork

vice.com/en/article/7kxqnx/don…

‘Don’t Mess With Us’: WebMD Parent Company Demands Return to Office in Bizarre Video

“I've seen better acting by hostages in direct to DVD movies,” one anonymous worker wrote about the video.

^{Maxwell Strachan (VICE)}