Company forces employees back to the office, then builds ‘collaboration pods’ so they can take the same Zoom calls they took at home: 'I drove across town to do remote work in a closet'

When did RTO become more expensive than going to a nice dinner?

We all had heard those crazy stories of workers going back to the office, only to find out that their productivity decreased or it wasn’t really necessary. However, nothing really struck me like the story I’m about to share with you today. This anecdote was posted in r/remotework, and many Redditors were so confused as to why these people had to go back to an office only to work isolated.

Let me explain a bit more about this situation. According to u/Embarrassed-War9550, the company insisted on going back to work collaboratively, so everyone packed their laptops and went to the office, like every other person. When they arrived, they realized that management had built these “collaborative pods” to enhance concentration. As you can imagine, the goal was another one.

Essentially, those were actually phone booths, with a telephone, a desk, and a chair, created for people to take Zoom calls, etcetera. In other words, workers were commuting to the office, paying for parking… only to end up working exactly like they did at home. Is that the best way to start the week? Or even your “back to the office” story? (Sarcasm, please).

The best part for me, and what made me feel a bit better about the story, is that every employee had to fill out a survey after the workday, exposing their thoughts on that “genius” phone booth idea. And let me just say that the majority didn’t keep their mouth shut, and just played around with the options, the same way leadership had played with them.