Workers are ignoring RTO?!

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🌴 Workers are ignoring RTO?!

🔥 Gen Z grads are getting fired…

✖️ Will the election impact your career?

And, of course, MEMES!

MEME OF THE DAY

REMOTE WORK

Workers are Ignoring RTO Mandates

Last month, Resume Builder surveyed over 1,000 U.S.-based full-time employees working for companies that implemented an RTO policy within the last 4 years.

Since the end of the pandemic, workers and companies have clashed over return-to-office policies, with Amazon being the most recent major company to make headlines after announcing that workers would be required to return to the office five days a week.

Unsurprisingly, workers weren’t thrilled about it. In fact, many workers are ignoring their companies’ policies altogether.

Only 78% of workers claim to fully abide by their company’s RTO policy. The other 22% admit to partially following the rules, but still working around them, or completely ignoring the policy. Only a small percentage (3%) said they regularly or always disregard the RTO mandate, but the results still highlight employees’ unwillingness to be in the office. So what do employees really want?

“The current tension around RTO policies isn’t just about following the rules — it’s also related to employee satisfaction. When asked about their current RTO policy, 31% of workers report being very satisfied, while 34% are somewhat satisfied. A notable portion remain ambivalent or dissatisfied, with 14% feeling neutral, 13% somewhat dissatisfied, and 8% very dissatisfied.”

So far, some companies that have implemented RTO policies are letting the noncompliance slide, but others are cracking down.

The reason some companies are letting it slide likely has to do with talent retention. According to the Resume Builder survey, more than half (53%) of employees are very likely or somewhat likely to leave the company if they crack down on compliance.

Commute time and cost were the two biggest issues workers cited with RTO policies, followed by lack of flexible work hours and difficulty balancing personal responsibilities.

Factors that would increase employees’ satisfaction with RTO policies included a raise (67%), flexible start/end times (51%), and transportation benefits (30%). Nearly 1 in 10 workers said nothing would make RTO acceptable to them. 

Yikes!

WORKPLACE

Companies are Firing Gen Z’ers

Bosses have been complaining about the newer generation of workers for years. But up until recently, it seems like they’ve been all talk, no action because of labor shortages.

According to a new report from Intelligent.com, that’s no longer the case.

Intelligent.com is a platform dedicated to helping young professionals navigate the future of work. They recently surveyed nearly 1,000 company executives and hiring managers in The United States.

Their conclusion: The class of 2024’s shortcomings will impact future grads.

Uh oh.

After experiencing many problems with young new hires, one in six bosses say they’re hesitant to hire recent college graduates. Meanwhile, one in seven bosses have admitted that they may avoid hiring them altogether next year.

75% of the companies surveyed said some or all of their recent graduate hires were unsatisfactory in some way.

To help prepare the next generation, universities like Michigan State are introducing classes specifically designed to teach students how to navigate networking conversations. A school in London is trialing a 12-hour school day to “prepare pupils for adult life.”

Would hate to be the kids at that school!

CAREERS

Will the Election Impact Your Career?!

With election day only a few weeks away, nearly 1/3 of workers (32%) believe it will have a “significant impact” on their jobs.

Among those who anticipate an impact, 19% said they think it will be positive and 13% think it will be negative.

And even among all workers, 22% said the current political climate is causing higher stress at work.

“With the November election only weeks away and political discussions continuing to heat up, the political climate is understandably top of mind for most professionals. And even though the majority of people do not believe the election will have an impact on their job directly, challenges like inflation and economic instability have heightened workers’ concerns related to career security and financial goals.”

In the survey of more than 3,000 workers, increased expenses and workplace stress were named as the top challenges of the current political climate. According to the report, talent attraction and retention are seemingly tied to a company’s political stance, with 60% of workers saying it factors into their decision to work for a company.

13% of respondents said a company’s political stance is a “major deciding factor,” 22% said it was a minor factor but not a deal breaker, and a quarter said it was a factor but not the most important one. 29% said they wouldn’t work for a company with policies or practices that didn’t align with their values.

The other 71% said they’d consider working for a company that supports policies they don’t agree with as long as the job was appealing and/or paid well.

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