Disney Employees Must Return to Office Four Days a Week, Bob Iger Says

[co10064]

It has nothing to do with being "more skilled" or "arrogant". Some jobs can be done remotely, some can't.

Arguing against it because you "think" some people are less productive makes zero sense.

In my workplace, we kept the WFH option post-COVID because the work was getting done. Many offices are more distracting than working from home, especially with open office spaces becoming the norm.

Obviously some jobs can be done remote and others can't—that's not what my point was.

My point was that to many Cast Members (or fill-in-the-blank with another company or profession) who have continued to work in-person, it certainly reads as "rules for me and not for thee."

I previously worked a 9-5 office job where I managed people before returning to manage a retail location, and I can say with 100% certainty that some—again NOT all (I would even admit it's a small minority to be certain)—employees took advantage of the work from home opportunity and neglected their job duties. It's not something I think, it's something I know.

 

[Apple Core]

We're at 3 days a week, but with managers discretion to require fewer, and with the ability for directors to reclassify anyone as 100% remote.

Needless to say, my entire team has been reclassified as 100% remote, with the freedom to go into an office as needed.

So we do one week per quarter at the office. And that includes Monday and Friday as travel days.

BTW, 2021 and 2022 were our most profitable years

If I decide to leave my much-loved professional job at Disney, where I'm highly conscientious and much more productive working remotely, over Iger's blanket edict, can I come work at your company?

 

[Lilofan]

Obviously some jobs can be done remote and others can't—that's not what my point was.

My point was that to many Cast Members (or fill-in-the-blank with another company or profession) who have continued to work in-person, it certainly reads as "rules for me and not for thee."

I previously worked a 9-5 office job where I managed people before returning to manage a retail location, and I can say with 100% certainty that some—again NOT all (I would even admit it's a small minority to be certain)—employees took advantage of the work from home opportunity and neglected their job duties. It's not something I think, it's something I know.

CEO of Better.com caught onto that and he fired affected staff on a Zoom call.

 

[flynnibus]

If you are a so called expert then why do a number of companies outsource their IT to India ( hint - cost savings ).

Because most companies look at support as a COST instead of a business asset/differentiator so are willing to sacrifice quality, performance, and other intangibles for top-line savings.

It's easy for a C-level to ignore the burdens when they have staff that insulate them from actually using the service they outsourced.

 

[Lilofan]

Because most companies look at support as a COST instead of a business asset/differentiator so are willing to sacrifice quality, performance, and other intangibles for top-line savings.

It's easy for a C-level to ignore the burdens when they have staff that insulate them from actually using the service they outsourced.

I stopped counting how many meetings I’ve been in where we were given directives , save, cut, streamline - and find ways to make it happen.

 

[co10064]

Sorry, this is just envy. The very same could be said of other situations like "oh, you get to work set hours.. and get paid overtime while I work whenever the work is needed" or "I actually have to be on call, you get to go home when your shift is over" , "you get comfy 9-5 hours while I work until 3am" etc.

Different roles have different requirements - it's always been this way and will continue to do so.

If you want flexible work hours, you should work in a field that can accommodate it. Not try to force others to work what YOUR job requires.

Who said I'm trying to force others to accommodate to my perspective?

I'm simply offering the viewpoint that for a company like Disney, a company where a large percentage (if not an outright majority) of its employees are Cast Members at its theme parks and resorts, it makes sense to align work expectations across its divisions.

How many times have Disney fans complained that the average Disney executive and the average Disney IT manager don't actually use and experience their systems first-hand? Being fully remote doesn't work for these types of jobs.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Obviously some jobs can be done remote and others can't—that's not what my point was.

My point was that to many Cast Members (or fill-in-the-blank with another company or profession) who have continued to work in-person, it certainly reads as "rules for me and not for thee."

You understand that different jobs have different requirements in terms of where the work can be done, yet still think there's some sort of hypocrisy or unfairness at play? Makes zero sense.

 

[HauntedPirate]

If you are a so called expert then why do a number of companies outsource their IT to India ( hint - cost savings ).

Of course they do it to save money. They don't give a **** about level of performance, only that they can claim "We saved 32.39% on labor costs with this outsourcing initiative!". They get their bonuses, the rest of the people who actually have to deal with the realities of it all get the shaft. I cannot tell you the number of times I've had to "educate" some of your so-called "great outsourced IT workers" about how to do things that they allegedly know how to do. And it happens on a weekly basis with some of my co-workers, who are asked by an outsourced IT worker how to do something that is absolutely basic IT knowledge that they allegedly are experts in.

Tell us more about how you don't have a clue how the real IT world works without telling us you don't have a clue how the real IT world works. Put down the shovel, because you obviously cannot smell what you're shoveling.

 

[co10064]

You understand that different jobs have different requirements in terms of where the work can be done, yet still think there's some sort of hypocrisy or unfairness at play? Makes zero sense.

These jobs were originally in-person jobs. It's what these employees signed up for. But now when Iger says "time to come back" people have a problem? Makes zero sense.

 

[mkt]

If I decide to leave my much-loved professional job at Disney, where I'm highly conscientious and much more productive working remotely, over Iger's blanket edict, can I come work at your company?

We're hiring, feel free to apply. We hired more than a few ex-WDI people last year.

 

[Lilofan]

Of course they do it to save money. They don't give a **** about level of performance, only that they can claim "We saved 32.39% on labor costs with this outsourcing initiative!". They get their bonuses, the rest of the people who actually have to deal with the realities of it all get the shaft. I cannot tell you the number of times I've had to "educate" some of your so-called "great outsourced IT workers" about how to do things that they allegedly know how to do. And it happens on a weekly basis with some of my co-workers, who are asked by an outsourced IT worker how to do something that is absolutely basic IT knowledge that they allegedly are experts in.

Tell us more about how you don't have a clue how the real IT world works without telling us you don't have a clue how the real IT world works. Put down the shovel, because you obviously cannot smell what you're shoveling.

You pointed a fact that cannot be denied. It was for cost savings. When my director tells me to do something I make it happen.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

These jobs were originally in-person jobs. It's what these employees signed up for. But now when Iger says "time to come back" people have a problem? Makes zero sense.

Things change. Many companies have learned that allowing work from home makes sense. The benefits afforded to employees, including WFH, impacts ability to recruit and retain staff.

Being beholden to something because that's how it once was is bad business.

 

[lazyboy97o]

My point was that to many Cast Members (or fill-in-the-blank with another company or profession) who have continued to work in-person, it certainly reads as "rules for me and not for thee."

Of course it is. There are a bunch of rules that apply to some employees and not others. Customer facing employees often have uniform requirements others don’t follow. Different roles have different schedules. Some people are expected to answer the phone at 2:00 AM to start fixing a system outage while others get to show up late since the system is down.

 

[JoeCamel]

Your call-center is never going to be a big cube farm anymore. Nor are you going to have a bullpen of accountants, data entry, 'analysts', etc. Just like your company 'centralized' resources from onsite to remote hubs in the past for everything from HR, IT, legal, whatever... those roles are never coming back 'onsite'. Those roles that can be done effectively w/o paying for office space will continue to be done by people working from home/remote.

Two large call centers within 5 miles of me and both were ghost towns during the height of covid but now are packed. No signs of shrinkage

 

[lazyboy97o]

CEO of Better.com caught onto that and he fired affected staff on a Zoom call.

Your familiarity with that incident is noted. We’re all very impressed.

You pointed a fact that cannot be denied. It was for cost savings. When my director tells me to do something I make it happen.

Or you know, some of us work in places where we are respected and can challenge leadership if we have good reason. I’ve told plenty of bosses that their idea was bad.

 

[co10064]

Of course it is. There are a bunch of rules that apply to some employees and not others. Customer facing employees often have uniform requirements others don’t follow. Different roles have different schedules. Some people are expected to answer the phone at 2:00 AM to start fixing a system outage while others get to show up late since the system is down.

So once again, my question is: If these jobs were originally fully in-person, and these employees knew that these jobs would be returning to that expectation soon, what exactly is the problem with Iger saying, "Time to come back now"?

When someone says, "Well, I knew all that going in, but that's an unfair expectation," then that's where the problem arises. That's where the "rules for me but not for thee" comes back into place.

This would be the equivalent to Disney reinforcing its appearance policy for front line cast members (again, something many posters here have applauded), and then Cast Members complaining that the policy is unfair, when it quite literally is a condition of their employment.

But anyone can complain about a policy all they want—that's their right and I'm not trying to police that behavior.

 

[flynnibus]

Who said I'm trying to force others to accommodate to my perspective?

Uhh... right when you tried to 'align work expectations' of your Theme Park world with the rest of the company that has almost nothing in common with your kind of work.

I'm simply offering the viewpoint that for a company like Disney, a company where a large percentage (if not an outright majority) of its employees are Cast Members at its theme parks and resorts, it makes sense to align work expectations across its divisions.

A large percentage of workers simply due to sheer scale of the operation - The idea that there could be 2000 parking attendants really doesn't mean much in terms of trying to steer company wide HR strategy... simply because they have a lot of parking!

 

[Lilofan]

Your familiarity with that incident is noted. We’re all very impressed.


Or you know, some of us work in places where we are respected and can challenge leadership if we have good reason. I’ve told plenty of bosses that their idea was bad.

Maybe in your world but when our CEO comes with a directive it’s his way or the highway.

 

[flynnibus]

Two large call centers within 5 miles of me and both were ghost towns during the height of covid but now are packed. No signs of shrinkage

Depends on the kind of work. For very low skill, high turnover work, there maybe a greater incentive to keep people onsite for oversight and resource sharing. For your company's HR hotline, or internal service desk, you may find those kinds of jobs never go back to office.

Depends greatly on the kind of investment you make per employee and what level of trust you have with them.

 

[flynnibus]

Maybe in your world but when our CEO comes with a directive it’s his way or the highway.

If you work somewhere where the boss thinks it's a one way street.. you should probably leave.

A good boss knows the whole point of hiring the smart people is so they can help you make the best decisions.