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

[Anonymous]

It is clear from the last two pages that many of the WFH haters on here can’t spell, capitalize, or punctuate correctly. Sorry, but you have bigger problems than other people’s work arrangements.

[Anonymous]

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?

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.

Don’t bother, the PP won’t acknowledge that average Americans are way worse off now than the were in 1999, and even 2020. Doesn’t fit the narrative. Draconian in-person rules for office workers isn’t good for workers, only good for cutting heads. It is shortsighted though. The people you’re losing with this aren’t necessarily the ones you want to lose. I’ve got GREAT people burning out and becoming less productive I t he same of this, while the people who were never any good are even worse but hang on just barely because they have no other options. It’s brutal. And to the PP that talks about service jobs… remember that May of those jobs are extremely high turnover, or well compensated, or unionized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is clear from the last two pages that many of the WFH haters on here can’t spell, capitalize, or punctuate correctly. Sorry, but you have bigger problems than other people’s work arrangements.

Because those are the people who go to the office and walk around with a big ass mug or water bottle talking to everyone but it's "working" because it's done inside that particular building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fed who has been back 5 days for past 14 months, I have no sympathy. Remote and hybrid work are being phased out.

This is the problem with society. It's filled with people like you that are jealous and vindictive of others. No empathy with the flight or experiences that others might be going through. Instead of using it as an opportunity to share concerns that progressive changes in the work place being undone systematically by the capitalist system.

Not really. I just see a Fed who’s been left out to dry but giving a crap about how others in private sector are now being treated badly. And I’m right there with him. No one cared about Feds who were furloughed, no pay raise for this coming year, forced to RTO. We were told we were lazy on this board. So now the tables have turned.
Too bad the rest of the corporate world couldn’t have supported Feds when they were being treated badly. Now they are doing the same. Hard to have much sympathy after a year of beatings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fed who has been back 5 days for past 14 months, I have no sympathy. Remote and hybrid work are being phased out.

This is the problem with society. It's filled with people like you that are jealous and vindictive of others. No empathy with the flight or experiences that others might be going through. Instead of using it as an opportunity to share concerns that progressive changes in the work place being undone systematically by the capitalist system.

Not really. I just see a Fed who’s been left out to dry but giving a crap about how others in private sector are now being treated badly. And I’m right there with him. No one cared about Feds who were furloughed, no pay raise for this coming year, forced to RTO. We were told we were lazy on this board. So now the tables have turned.
Too bad the rest of the corporate world couldn’t have supported Feds when they were being treated badly. Now they are doing the same. Hard to have much sympathy after a year of beatings.

I don't think private sector remote workers were the ones telling feds they were lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fed who has been back 5 days for past 14 months, I have no sympathy. Remote and hybrid work are being phased out.

This is the problem with society. It's filled with people like you that are jealous and vindictive of others. No empathy with the flight or experiences that others might be going through. Instead of using it as an opportunity to share concerns that progressive changes in the work place being undone systematically by the capitalist system.

Not really. I just see a Fed who’s been left out to dry but giving a crap about how others in private sector are now being treated badly. And I’m right there with him. No one cared about Feds who were furloughed, no pay raise for this coming year, forced to RTO. We were told we were lazy on this board. So now the tables have turned.
Too bad the rest of the corporate world couldn’t have supported Feds when they were being treated badly. Now they are doing the same. Hard to have much sympathy after a year of beatings.

I don't think private sector remote workers were the ones telling feds they were lazy.

+1. It’s a pretty ignorant attitude. Most of the people with remote work did not want to see Feds return to office full time, if for no other reason than it is just another data point for our own employers to push for us to come back in full time.

Smart people don’t want other people’s benefits to get cut, because it makes it more likely it will happen to them too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Fed who has been back 5 days for past 14 months, I have no sympathy. Remote and hybrid work are being phased out.

Hater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fed who has been back 5 days for past 14 months, I have no sympathy. Remote and hybrid work are being phased out.

This is the problem with society. It's filled with people like you that are jealous and vindictive of others. No empathy with the flight or experiences that others might be going through. Instead of using it as an opportunity to share concerns that progressive changes in the work place being undone systematically by the capitalist system.

Not really. I just see a Fed who’s been left out to dry but giving a crap about how others in private sector are now being treated badly. And I’m right there with him. No one cared about Feds who were furloughed, no pay raise for this coming year, forced to RTO. We were told we were lazy on this board. So now the tables have turned.
Too bad the rest of the corporate world couldn’t have supported Feds when they were being treated badly. Now they are doing the same. Hard to have much sympathy after a year of beatings.

I don't think private sector remote workers were the ones telling feds they were lazy.

+1. It’s a pretty ignorant attitude. Most of the people with remote work did not want to see Feds return to office full time, if for no other reason than it is just another data point for our own employers to push for us to come back in full time.

Smart people don’t want other people’s benefits to get cut, because it makes it more likely it will happen to them too.

Where were you guys when the Fed worker threads were full of people saying that Feds are lazy..

You are correct - all workers should support benefits and rights for other workers regardless of sector.

[Anonymous]

Meanwhile I am still fully remote and my boss has told us to shut it all down early the last three Fridays.

[Anonymous]

All banks must have done this. PNC back in person this week too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fed who has been back 5 days for past 14 months, I have no sympathy. Remote and hybrid work are being phased out.

This is the problem with society. It's filled with people like you that are jealous and vindictive of others. No empathy with the flight or experiences that others might be going through. Instead of using it as an opportunity to share concerns that progressive changes in the work place being undone systematically by the capitalist system.

Not really. I just see a Fed who’s been left out to dry but giving a crap about how others in private sector are now being treated badly. And I’m right there with him. No one cared about Feds who were furloughed, no pay raise for this coming year, forced to RTO. We were told we were lazy on this board. So now the tables have turned.
Too bad the rest of the corporate world couldn’t have supported Feds when they were being treated badly. Now they are doing the same. Hard to have much sympathy after a year of beatings.

I don't think private sector remote workers were the ones telling feds they were lazy.

+1. It’s a pretty ignorant attitude. Most of the people with remote work did not want to see Feds return to office full time, if for no other reason than it is just another data point for our own employers to push for us to come back in full time.

Smart people don’t want other people’s benefits to get cut, because it makes it more likely it will happen to them too.

Where were you guys when the Fed worker threads were full of people saying that Feds are lazy..

You are correct - all workers should support benefits and rights for other workers regardless of sector.

We were there getting shouted down by the same angry weirdos that populate every return to office thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fed who has been back 5 days for past 14 months, I have no sympathy. Remote and hybrid work are being phased out.

This is the problem with society. It's filled with people like you that are jealous and vindictive of others. No empathy with the flight or experiences that others might be going through. Instead of using it as an opportunity to share concerns that progressive changes in the work place being undone systematically by the capitalist system.

Not really. I just see a Fed who’s been left out to dry but giving a crap about how others in private sector are now being treated badly. And I’m right there with him. No one cared about Feds who were furloughed, no pay raise for this coming year, forced to RTO. We were told we were lazy on this board. So now the tables have turned.
Too bad the rest of the corporate world couldn’t have supported Feds when they were being treated badly. Now they are doing the same. Hard to have much sympathy after a year of beatings.

I don't think private sector remote workers were the ones telling feds they were lazy.

+1. It’s a pretty ignorant attitude. Most of the people with remote work did not want to see Feds return to office full time, if for no other reason than it is just another data point for our own employers to push for us to come back in full time.

Smart people don’t want other people’s benefits to get cut, because it makes it more likely it will happen to them too.

Where were you guys when the Fed worker threads were full of people saying that Feds are lazy..

You are correct - all workers should support benefits and rights for other workers regardless of sector.

“WHERE WERE YOU ON THIS ANONYMOUS FORUM WHERE WE HAVE NO IDEA WHO POSTED WHAT?!?”

Newsflash, plenty of us were sticking up for the feds.

[Anonymous]

As someone who did work with Fidelity back in 1997. Yes 30 years ago. We had email, shared drive internet, internal website. Only thing missing was talking head boxes of Zoom.

We in my NJ Conference room in NJ would try to do do our project which was building out GUI of Fidelity on line trading website and adding functionality.

But guess what I would fly to Boston or take Amtrak and we go to large conference room whole team and we White Board and do Mock up of screen on Big whiteboards. Pretty cutting edge at time we had a tool that could great a paper print out of the white board, I though amazing. Was like a mini Xerox attached to board.

We go to lunch at Fidelity Headquarters with whole team. I recall in 1997 we went to Legal Seafood for Boston in Dinner and had bibs on. Some of the screens and things on Fidelity's App and Website in 2027 we dreamed up in those rooms are in existence and still in use.

Back in 1997 that office was full of young good looking super smart bright energetic people in business suits in a state of the art building with a amazing waterview. And I an team we were interviewing people in real time on their jobs, sitting with them doing business requirement documents to automate tasks and make it an amazing experience for customers.

I suspect Fidelity is trying to get back to the culture that made them great. Plus cross selling in Fidelty offices work best in person

[Anonymous]

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?

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.

Don’t bother, the PP won’t acknowledge that average Americans are way worse off now than the were in 1999, and even 2020. Doesn’t fit the narrative. Draconian in-person rules for office workers isn’t good for workers, only good for cutting heads. It is shortsighted though. The people you’re losing with this aren’t necessarily the ones you want to lose. I’ve got GREAT people burning out and becoming less productive I t he same of this, while the people who were never any good are even worse but hang on just barely because they have no other options. It’s brutal. And to the PP that talks about service jobs… remember that May of those jobs are extremely high turnover, or well compensated, or unionized.

I say people at work have not worked a real workweek since around the mid 1990s. My company at that time rolled out Casual Fridays. We even had Levi company come in and do a presentation on what to wear to work on Fridays. Of course they plugged their Docker pants. Anyhow we rolled it out. Next thing I know I am in Docker pants, boat shoes, wearing a polo shirt and Friday felt like a day off. My dept used to go out to a two hour liquid lunch some days. We do paperwork catch up and go to coffee and head out door 430pm Was begining of end it slowly moved to five days a week, then flex hours, then paternity leave, then work from home snow days untill 2020 when we stopped going to work at all, or even bathing or shaving and were drunk watching pornhub and netlix in covid doing nothing.

I say we need to go back and restart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have friends in financial services, and they're supposed to be back five days per week. In practice, however, they tell me that no one is actually coming in five days per week.

Im an auditor at a firm with a 3 day RTO mandate but in reality, it’s up to the Managers to decide how many days per week our teams go in. I know some teams had to be in Monday - Saturday while others worked fully remote.

Hybrid/Remote work isn’t going anywhere - Fidelity just wants some increased voluntary attrition.