BT CEO: Back to the office or risk 'disciplinary action'

Well, it's good to see that BT are committed to their long term strategy of being an absolutely terrible company that slowly pisses away their old monopoly businesses. I look forward to this being tested when BT's HR team realize that they hired a load of people over the last two years on the basis of them working remotely and that unilaterally demanding they relocate to an office constitutes constructive dismissal. I've been wondering for a long time what's going to happen when it finally hits UK companies that employment law doesn't actually allow them to jerk people around like this. My guess would be the same thing that always happens at BT will happen - they'll end up paying a lot of people a lot of money to not work at BT.

My tech company's office is close to the BT office in London. I can see arguments for (separation of environments) and against (job market liquidity) office-working but the hybrid model for offices in the middle of London is a Hobson's choice between an expensive flat with no home-office or an affordable flat with a home-office, plus a very long commute 2/3 times a week.

Additionally you will find plenty of people who just don't turn up when you make the effort to come in.

Presumably it works well for everyone with fixed homes and families.

Many execs have no real concept of a job that doesn't involve face to face interaction.

Some have enough imagination to allow that such a thing might exist.

Oh the irony! Isn't BT's core business telecommunication -- as in connecting people who are separated by distance and enabling them to communicate?

>> BT also "believes in flexibility," the boss adds, and on those days staff can opt to work at home or in a coffee shop "or back at the workplace for those that want to!"

Wonder if there Support team / Security team would be allowed to work in a coffee shop.

:-o

“We believe in being together”, no, all the evidence shows that offices are bad for productivity. This is entirely about executives wanting to feel power over, and ownership of, their employees. Nothing more, nothing less.

I guess they also want back-office/R&D employees to shift countries as well or does it bite too much into their costs vs WFH paradigm

More companies should let the employees be autonomous and let them figure out their own way of working on a personal/team basis, rather than managing them like they're school children. That being said if i were on £3.5m compensation like the CEO i'd be in registration early with the best pressed uniform in the class... :p