Announced in December 2024, AT&T was the latest company to jump on the 5-day RTO bandwagon. They were also yet another company mandating in-office return, but somehow forgot to ensure the facilities could handle all of their employees.
According to a Business Insider article, this was actually known and called by employees on social media right away. As with many CEOs mandating RTO, John Stankey didn’t seem to connect those dots. How can employees have enhanced collaboration when the facility is lacking?
In early 2025, another Business Insider article noted that AT&T was aware but mandated the RTO anyways:
“An internal FAQ that was updated last week said employees in at least one division should expect workstations for 70% to 80% of those assigned to a particular location.”
“The document followed a memo sent to employees last month from AT&T’s chief technology officer, Jeremy Legg, that said his AT&T Technology Services division would “not offer one-for-one seating per employee” under the new RTO rules.”
Verizon then decided to target specific AT&T employees and seemingly tout their hybrid and remote offerings. While there doesn’t seem to be any follow-up for how well this strategy played out, there are many similar examples at other companies succeeding at this approach.
Regardless, ordering employees back to the office without ensuring adequate facilities is another demonstration that RTO policies are really attrition-driving tactics.
If senior leaders can’t figure out how to connect the dots on something this simple, what other business opportunities are they missing?
