Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is the agency still doing 5 bullets????? Who exactly is requiring that?

Atkins is requiring. The emails clearly state that the agency is telling you to do it. So just do it and give it a rest with something that takes less than two minutes.

The question is WHY. There are a LOT of things that “take less than two minutes,” but that doesn’t make it right or moral to require.

So, instead of deflecting, why just just explain (1) WHY it’s required, and (2) whether it’s PA himself who’s requiring or someone else?

You consider this immoral? Get a grip.

I don’t know why precisely he has made this decision, just like I don’t know precisely why he or anyone else makes most of their decisions. Maybe it is because he determined it’s not worth picking a fight with the administration over this or maybe there is some other reason.

I don’t really care and neither should you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is the agency still doing 5 bullets????? Who exactly is requiring that?

Atkins is requiring. The emails clearly state that the agency is telling you to do it. So just do it and give it a rest with something that takes less than two minutes.

The question is WHY. There are a LOT of things that “take less than two minutes,” but that doesn’t make it right or moral to require.

So, instead of deflecting, why just just explain (1) WHY it’s required, and (2) whether it’s PA himself who’s requiring or someone else?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I was at a different agency pre-COVID, where TW wasn't allowed. During flu season, we used leave and went back when we were able to handle going back. Some showed up to work with a cold or the flu. [No one wore masks at any point.] Problem with this argument is that there are lots of counterarguments. The TW flexibility was a privilege and not everyone received it equally. Because it is being taken away today, we seem to be having a visceral reaction to it--kind of like giving your teen a phone and social media and then taking it away.

Ok but we are talking about a particular agency. And in addition to the SEC, I have been at another agency and at private law firm and I can tell you that no one at any of those places hesitated to ad hoc telework when recovering. And that was with no formal telework policy in place. So your pre covid experience is an outlier.

+1. All the people saying “but Wall Street and BigLaw are RTO - stop whining” are neglecting to mention that there, taking ad hoc telework is totally accepted and in most places not monitored at all.

This. Law firms might technically be RTO but they allow very liberal ad hoc. As long as you meet your billables, they don’t really care.

Plus, first year associates make more than the highest paid sec employee. Must be really depressing for sec lawyers — made a really poor life choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I was at a different agency pre-COVID, where TW wasn't allowed. During flu season, we used leave and went back when we were able to handle going back. Some showed up to work with a cold or the flu. [No one wore masks at any point.] Problem with this argument is that there are lots of counterarguments. The TW flexibility was a privilege and not everyone received it equally. Because it is being taken away today, we seem to be having a visceral reaction to it--kind of like giving your teen a phone and social media and then taking it away.

Ok but we are talking about a particular agency. And in addition to the SEC, I have been at another agency and at private law firm and I can tell you that no one at any of those places hesitated to ad hoc telework when recovering. And that was with no formal telework policy in place. So your pre covid experience is an outlier.

+1. All the people saying “but Wall Street and BigLaw are RTO - stop whining” are neglecting to mention that there, taking ad hoc telework is totally accepted and in most places not monitored at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is the agency still doing 5 bullets????? Who exactly is requiring that?

Atkins is requiring. The emails clearly state that the agency is telling you to do it. So just do it and give it a rest with something that takes less than two minutes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I know I'm an outlier but I'm worried about Covid. Not just general paranoia, I have some health concerns. Now there's talk of some new strain in Asia which is popping up in Hawaii and NYC so it'll be in DC in no time. And already there are people in my group who come in sick with other stuff because usually they catch it from their kids; they take days off to care for the kids, just as the kids are better, they catch it and feel like - how many more days can I take off. I totally understand that concern but I also don't know what I'm supposed to do either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I was at a different agency pre-COVID, where TW wasn't allowed. During flu season, we used leave and went back when we were able to handle going back. Some showed up to work with a cold or the flu. [No one wore masks at any point.] Problem with this argument is that there are lots of counterarguments. The TW flexibility was a privilege and not everyone received it equally. Because it is being taken away today, we seem to be having a visceral reaction to it--kind of like giving your teen a phone and social media and then taking it away.

Ok but we are talking about a particular agency. And in addition to the SEC, I have been at another agency and at private law firm and I can tell you that no one at any of those places hesitated to ad hoc telework when recovering. And that was with no formal telework policy in place. So your pre covid experience is an outlier.

Anonymous wrote:Why is the agency still doing 5 bullets????? Who exactly is requiring that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I know I'm an outlier but I'm worried about Covid. Not just general paranoia, I have some health concerns. Now there's talk of some new strain in Asia which is popping up in Hawaii and NYC so it'll be in DC in no time. And already there are people in my group who come in sick with other stuff because usually they catch it from their kids; they take days off to care for the kids, just as the kids are better, they catch it and feel like - how many more days can I take off. I totally understand that concern but I also don't know what I'm supposed to do either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I was at a different agency pre-COVID, where TW wasn't allowed. During flu season, we used leave and went back when we were able to handle going back. Some showed up to work with a cold or the flu. [No one wore masks at any point.] Problem with this argument is that there are lots of counterarguments. The TW flexibility was a privilege and not everyone received it equally. Because it is being taken away today, we seem to be having a visceral reaction to it--kind of like giving your teen a phone and social media and then taking it away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I was at a different agency pre-COVID, where TW wasn't allowed. During flu season, we used leave and went back when we were able to handle going back. Some showed up to work with a cold or the flu. [No one wore masks at any point.] Problem with this argument is that there are lots of counterarguments. The TW flexibility was a privilege and not everyone received it equally. Because it is being taken away today, we seem to be having a visceral reaction to it--kind of like giving your teen a phone and social media and then taking it away.

Its almost like people thought they had a contractual right to it or something like that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.

I was at a different agency pre-COVID, where TW wasn't allowed. During flu season, we used leave and went back when we were able to handle going back. Some showed up to work with a cold or the flu. [No one wore masks at any point.] Problem with this argument is that there are lots of counterarguments. The TW flexibility was a privilege and not everyone received it equally. Because it is being taken away today, we seem to be having a visceral reaction to it--kind of like giving your teen a phone and social media and then taking it away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on these threads talks past each other bc everyone ignores the 800 gorilla in the room — namely, that there are at least 2 groups of staff, which are affected VERY differently by RTO, career exit options, doge, etc:

1. Highly credentialed lawyers and accountants and economists, and

2. Support staff, IT folks, etc.

Those groups keep arguing with each other, which is futile.

You are right the two groups are different, but I’m not sure that is the source of disagreement here.

I’m not even sure which group would be the I’m only here because I am stuck and which would be it’s not that bad.

I think a lot of people on the "it's not so bad I still like it here so will stay" category are those either r with minimal family obligations or they are using leave and assuming it is temporary. I think a lot more people will feel the pain if this goes on for over 6 months. It is simply unsustainable. Can you imagine when fall comes and everyone is coming in with the flu? I will be shutting my door all day and dialing into calls.