Fidelity Ends Hybrid Work, Requires US Staff in Office Five Days a Week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Parents have been dropping out for years, since day care is $2-3K. I dropped out as my salary barely covered day care post taxes and often I didn't get out of work till post day care hours. Spouse worked 90 minutes away so he couldn't make it in time.

Yes, and pandemic-era telework resulted in higher employment numbers across the board but especially among women and disabled people. Record numbers of women joined the workforce and/or sought promotions that they couldn't or would take on if they had to commute. Every productivity metric showed that people were working more, and getting more done at work.

Anecdotally, it was also good for job turnover because people were no longer stuck in the job where they'd earned or negotiated flexibility. It was much easier to go find a better job with flexibility. Junior people moved up behind those who left. Win-win.

So yes, parents drop out of the workforce because of commute but they join (and work hard) without a commute. Basically every public policy and economic policy goal is enhanced by telework.

This was going on long before Covid. Stop blaming Covid.

No one’s blaming COVID. COVID HELPED women be able to join the work force because of increased flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Parents have been dropping out for years, since day care is $2-3K. I dropped out as my salary barely covered day care post taxes and often I didn't get out of work till post day care hours. Spouse worked 90 minutes away so he couldn't make it in time.

Yes, and pandemic-era telework resulted in higher employment numbers across the board but especially among women and disabled people. Record numbers of women joined the workforce and/or sought promotions that they couldn't or would take on if they had to commute. Every productivity metric showed that people were working more, and getting more done at work.

Anecdotally, it was also good for job turnover because people were no longer stuck in the job where they'd earned or negotiated flexibility. It was much easier to go find a better job with flexibility. Junior people moved up behind those who left. Win-win.

So yes, parents drop out of the workforce because of commute but they join (and work hard) without a commute. Basically every public policy and economic policy goal is enhanced by telework.

This was going on long before Covid. Stop blaming Covid.

No one’s blaming COVID. COVID HELPED women be able to join the work force because of increased flexibility.

Except who asked? Hey Honey, great news. My company is going remote. I will be home five days a week, looking forward to what you are making me for breakfast and lunch each day. Oh by the way since fully remote we are now cutting job salaries in half and will be much harder to get a promotion. But dont worry you get a remote job and stare at a screen all day while juggling all your current work as a Mom it will get us back to our household income pre remote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Parents have been dropping out for years, since day care is $2-3K. I dropped out as my salary barely covered day care post taxes and often I didn't get out of work till post day care hours. Spouse worked 90 minutes away so he couldn't make it in time.

Yes, and pandemic-era telework resulted in higher employment numbers across the board but especially among women and disabled people. Record numbers of women joined the workforce and/or sought promotions that they couldn't or would take on if they had to commute. Every productivity metric showed that people were working more, and getting more done at work.

Anecdotally, it was also good for job turnover because people were no longer stuck in the job where they'd earned or negotiated flexibility. It was much easier to go find a better job with flexibility. Junior people moved up behind those who left. Win-win.

So yes, parents drop out of the workforce because of commute but they join (and work hard) without a commute. Basically every public policy and economic policy goal is enhanced by telework.

This was going on long before Covid. Stop blaming Covid.

No one’s blaming COVID. COVID HELPED women be able to join the work force because of increased flexibility.

Except who asked? Hey Honey, great news. My company is going remote. I will be home five days a week, looking forward to what you are making me for breakfast and lunch each day. Oh by the way since fully remote we are now cutting job salaries in half and will be much harder to get a promotion. But dont worry you get a remote job and stare at a screen all day while juggling all your current work as a Mom it will get us back to our household income pre remote.

This sounds like a you problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Parents have been dropping out for years, since day care is $2-3K. I dropped out as my salary barely covered day care post taxes and often I didn't get out of work till post day care hours. Spouse worked 90 minutes away so he couldn't make it in time.

Yes, and pandemic-era telework resulted in higher employment numbers across the board but especially among women and disabled people. Record numbers of women joined the workforce and/or sought promotions that they couldn't or would take on if they had to commute. Every productivity metric showed that people were working more, and getting more done at work.

Anecdotally, it was also good for job turnover because people were no longer stuck in the job where they'd earned or negotiated flexibility. It was much easier to go find a better job with flexibility. Junior people moved up behind those who left. Win-win.

So yes, parents drop out of the workforce because of commute but they join (and work hard) without a commute. Basically every public policy and economic policy goal is enhanced by telework.

This was going on long before Covid. Stop blaming Covid.

No one’s blaming COVID. COVID HELPED women be able to join the work force because of increased flexibility.

Except who asked? Hey Honey, great news. My company is going remote. I will be home five days a week, looking forward to what you are making me for breakfast and lunch each day. Oh by the way since fully remote we are now cutting job salaries in half and will be much harder to get a promotion. But dont worry you get a remote job and stare at a screen all day while juggling all your current work as a Mom it will get us back to our household income pre remote.

Works great for me. Sorry you don’t like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Parents have been dropping out for years, since day care is $2-3K. I dropped out as my salary barely covered day care post taxes and often I didn't get out of work till post day care hours. Spouse worked 90 minutes away so he couldn't make it in time.

Yes, and pandemic-era telework resulted in higher employment numbers across the board but especially among women and disabled people. Record numbers of women joined the workforce and/or sought promotions that they couldn't or would take on if they had to commute. Every productivity metric showed that people were working more, and getting more done at work.

Anecdotally, it was also good for job turnover because people were no longer stuck in the job where they'd earned or negotiated flexibility. It was much easier to go find a better job with flexibility. Junior people moved up behind those who left. Win-win.

So yes, parents drop out of the workforce because of commute but they join (and work hard) without a commute. Basically every public policy and economic policy goal is enhanced by telework.

This was going on long before Covid. Stop blaming Covid.

No one’s blaming COVID. COVID HELPED women be able to join the work force because of increased flexibility.

Except who asked? Hey Honey, great news. My company is going remote. I will be home five days a week, looking forward to what you are making me for breakfast and lunch each day. Oh by the way since fully remote we are now cutting job salaries in half and will be much harder to get a promotion. But dont worry you get a remote job and stare at a screen all day while juggling all your current work as a Mom it will get us back to our household income pre remote.

I mean yeah, women with a-hole husbands like this are probably the only cohort who doesn't appreciate remote work. Lucky I'm single.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Parents have been dropping out for years, since day care is $2-3K. I dropped out as my salary barely covered day care post taxes and often I didn't get out of work till post day care hours. Spouse worked 90 minutes away so he couldn't make it in time.

Yes, and pandemic-era telework resulted in higher employment numbers across the board but especially among women and disabled people. Record numbers of women joined the workforce and/or sought promotions that they couldn't or would take on if they had to commute. Every productivity metric showed that people were working more, and getting more done at work.

Anecdotally, it was also good for job turnover because people were no longer stuck in the job where they'd earned or negotiated flexibility. It was much easier to go find a better job with flexibility. Junior people moved up behind those who left. Win-win.

So yes, parents drop out of the workforce because of commute but they join (and work hard) without a commute. Basically every public policy and economic policy goal is enhanced by telework.

This was going on long before Covid. Stop blaming Covid.

No one’s blaming COVID. COVID HELPED women be able to join the work force because of increased flexibility.

Except who asked? Hey Honey, great news. My company is going remote. I will be home five days a week, looking forward to what you are making me for breakfast and lunch each day. Oh by the way since fully remote we are now cutting job salaries in half and will be much harder to get a promotion. But dont worry you get a remote job and stare at a screen all day while juggling all your current work as a Mom it will get us back to our household income pre remote.

I mean yeah, women with a-hole husbands like this are probably the only cohort who doesn't appreciate remote work. Lucky I'm single.

My Aunt always said Marriage is Forever but not for Lunch. She was right. Even in retirment for instance my SIL in law sends by brother off to Gold Course, gives him some errands, a honey do list now and then. She is retired not his servant. He needs to get out of house during day on most days.

And remote is a rich person thing. I laugh at concept as when I was young and new in workforce can ony imagine with six of us living in a 1,200 square foot house with no air conditioning my Boss saying WFH. Where. Bigger questions Why? I had a wonderful cub with a water view, subsized cafateria, AC, office supplies, use of Secretary tech support. High speed printers. Xerox machines. Why do I want to work from home.

Rich people on DCOM dont realize a lot of people home life is still like. I recall in Covid Bank of America said to Tellers and Call Center work from home. One kid lived in a trailor home with abusive step Dad and two half siblings. One zoom call Boss realized that is crazy to force him to do that and got office opened for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Parents have been dropping out for years, since day care is $2-3K. I dropped out as my salary barely covered day care post taxes and often I didn't get out of work till post day care hours. Spouse worked 90 minutes away so he couldn't make it in time.

Yes, and pandemic-era telework resulted in higher employment numbers across the board but especially among women and disabled people. Record numbers of women joined the workforce and/or sought promotions that they couldn't or would take on if they had to commute. Every productivity metric showed that people were working more, and getting more done at work.

Anecdotally, it was also good for job turnover because people were no longer stuck in the job where they'd earned or negotiated flexibility. It was much easier to go find a better job with flexibility. Junior people moved up behind those who left. Win-win.

So yes, parents drop out of the workforce because of commute but they join (and work hard) without a commute. Basically every public policy and economic policy goal is enhanced by telework.

This was going on long before Covid. Stop blaming Covid.

No one’s blaming COVID. COVID HELPED women be able to join the work force because of increased flexibility.

Except who asked? Hey Honey, great news. My company is going remote. I will be home five days a week, looking forward to what you are making me for breakfast and lunch each day. Oh by the way since fully remote we are now cutting job salaries in half and will be much harder to get a promotion. But dont worry you get a remote job and stare at a screen all day while juggling all your current work as a Mom it will get us back to our household income pre remote.

Who makes their husband breakfast and lunch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Sigh. I don't dispute any of that. But again, that *all* was taking place in 2019, and 2018. Now, all of a sudden, it's "unsustainable?"

What I'm really taking issue with is the word choice. People have been going to work 5 days a week for decades, and centuries. Now that there is an alternative, that's becoming less desirable, and companies likely will pay a price for being rigid. But that's not unsustainable.

If we're being pedantic (as you are), the bolded is egregiously untrue. The modern office workplace is a historical blip, the 5-day work week was hard-won within living memory, and expectations of work are always evolving.

But that's not relevant to people who are living now and neither is your hyperfocus on what "unsustainable" means to different people. Would it make you happy if PP said "ok I could physically do it, but it would cost so much in time and money and lost happiness that I won't do it"? Unnecessary, when "unsustainable" works fine for our purposes here.

[Anonymous]

It's great to see companies acting on lessons learned. WFH has been shown time and time again to be relatively unproductive. Flex schedules, one day home a week, OK. But more than that is just bad.

[Anonymous]

Work from home was always a scam. Get back to the office !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

Competition with employers that offer hybrid or total remote work options.

Nice try, but the PP said it wasn't sustainable for *the employees/families,* not the employers.

It seems as though everyone's expectations have changed, which is understandable . . . but that doesn't make full time in the office unsustainable.

Let me spell it out for you. Wages have stagnated. Costs have risen. People (mainly women) are dropping out of the workforce and seeing their quality of life, and life expectancy, decline. Telework is just one way to recoup some time, which equals money. 10-12 hours a week of my unpaid labor goes into commuting, not my household.

Sigh. I don't dispute any of that. But again, that *all* was taking place in 2019, and 2018. Now, all of a sudden, it's "unsustainable?"

What I'm really taking issue with is the word choice. People have been going to work 5 days a week for decades, and centuries. Now that there is an alternative, that's becoming less desirable, and companies likely will pay a price for being rigid. But that's not unsustainable.

A lot of childcare has not resumed 2019 hours of operation. Mainly daycares, but even for summer camps, the vast majority of camps don't start until 8 or 9 am, which doesn't work when I have to be at the office 25 miles away at 8 am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.dailymail.com/yourmoney/article-15779901/wall-street-giant-staff-office-wfh-fidelity-investments.html

20K plus will be "impacted" by the decision. I heard State Farm has done the same as well.

Good. Stay at home has been abused

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.dailymail.com/yourmoney/article-15779901/wall-street-giant-staff-office-wfh-fidelity-investments.html

20K plus will be "impacted" by the decision. I heard State Farm has done the same as well.

Good. Stay at home has been abused

So has in office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’ll soon realize it’s a mistake. 5 days a week isn’t sustainable for most families today, unless you’re making gobs of money and can outsource everything your family needs. People will just call out and be less available. I’ve seen it in real time. As a manager who is short staffed, I prefer a hybrid (3 days in office) approach.

I agree that it's shortsighted and not the best policy. That said, what makes full time in the office unsustainable in 2026 that wasn't a factor in 1999, or January 2020? What changed?

The need for 2 jobs to maintain the same level of living as the 1990s. DH and I both had a SAHM so our dads just commuted, worked, came home and all the house/family stuff was as managed. Now it takes 2 working parents with grad degrees for a similar standard of living.

Also the rise in real estate costs. My boomer coworkers bought their N Arlington homes for peanuts in the 90s while my younger coworkers have to super commute from where they can afford to live.

Plus increased work expectations. Employers want the benefit of remote work with everyone always on and reachable. This isn’t sustainable if employees are also in office 5 days per week. People have lives beyond their jobs

Not to mention I think we know more today about unhealthy the workaholic lifestyle is and people are realizing they don’t want to devote their lives to a company that no longer offers loyalty or a pension.

[Anonymous]

^^ oh and also Dolly Parton’s 9-5 and now become 8-6. That is a lot of extra work hours.