• by Tanya Gazdik , June 21, 2024

Dell’s return-to-office initiative earlier this year required workers to classify themselves as remote or hybrid.

“Those who classified themselves as hybrid are subject to a tracking system that ensures they are in a physical office 39 days a quarter, which works out to close to three days per work week,” according to Ars Technica. “Alternatively, by classifying themselves as remote, workers agree they can no longer be promoted or hired into new roles within the company.”

Business Insider claims it has seen internal Dell tracking data that reveals nearly 50% of the workforce opted to accept the consequences of staying remote.

“The publication spoke with a dozen Dell employees to hear their stories as to why they chose to stay remote, and a variety of reasons came up,” according to Ars Technics. “Some said they enjoyed more free time and less strain on their finances after going remote, and nothing could convince them to give that up now. Others said their local offices had closed since the pandemic or that they weren't interested in promotions.”

During the pandemic, Dell chief operating officer Jeff Clarke told the company’s 165,000 workers that for the majority, working life would never be the same and they wouldn't be going back into the office regularly.

“That proclamation in August 2020 didn't hold water for long, and within three years, employees living within an hour's commute of a major Dell office were asked to come back for at least three out of five days a week. They could still choose those days,” according to The Register.

The February “Return to Office” notification stated that workers below a certain pay grade could choose to be fully remote.

“Some staff interpreted this policy as a stealth layoff,” according to The Register. “Opting to work remotely meant not funding on-site team meetings, no career advancement or movement inside the company, and that working offsite would be considered when choosing who would be the target for workforce reductions.”

Dell thinks staff work better when together.

“AWS, Meta, IBM, Google, and many, many others all seem to agree," according to The Register. "Salesforce's boss Marc Benioff famously said RTO mandates ‘are never going to work’ before he promoted a return to the communal desks amid fears younger staff and newbies weren't being assimilated into the corporate culture. This is despite research indicating that employees are happier when they have the flexibility to choose which location they work from, and another study indicating there are no productivity or profit benefits to be gained from demanding staff work in a designated office.”