Dell workers make risky move to dodge return-to-office mandate

Some employees are claiming that they are not afraid to continue working from home despite company orders.

Jun 22, 2024 - 19:30

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Dell workers make risky move to dodge return-to-office mandate

Dell (DELL) employees aren’t fans of the company’s new return-to-office mandate, so they’re pushing back against it and winning.

After Dell enforced a strict return-to-office policy in February, mandating most of its employees to work from the office three days a week with a minimum of 39 days each quarter, some employees claimed that the mandate threatened their job security and future promotions if they didn’t adhere to it.

Now, it appears that employees have conquered those fears, as about half of them are ignoring the RTO policy and are continuing to work remotely full-time, according to internal data obtained by Business Insider.

This comes after Dell allegedly rolled out a color-coded system last month that tracked its employees through their badge swipes and VPN connections to ensure that they are working from company offices. The system allegedly rates employees based on four different colors that measure how consistent they are with adhering to the RTO mandate.

After Dell further enforced its RTO policy, some employees are saying that they don’t care about losing the opportunity to be promoted at the company in the future as they claim that they already have high job positions, and there is no more room for growth. Also, there is allegedly an overall lack of opportunities for job promotions at the company.

"I know a few people who probably would have been deterred from staying remote due to the threat of the possibility of promotion, but since there haven't been any opportunities, they saw it as a meaningless threat," said a Dell employee while speaking to Business Insider.

A worker assembles laptop computers at the Dell stand at the 2013 CeBIT technology trade fair the day before the fair opens to visitors on March 4, 2013 in Hanover, Germany.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

When the mandate first rolled out, it reportedly caused internal turmoil at the company as some employees revealed that they received little to no direction on what offices to report to. They were allegedly told that they would have to report to an assigned office but will not have the ability to pick which one to attend due to “capacity or business function constraints,” according to the memo. This was a major issue as some employees were located in areas that don’t have an office building nearby.

Dell employees who spoke to Business Insider said that due to their teams being spread out across the country, there is no point in showing up to the office. Also, those who do report to the office are claiming that the locations are mainly empty.

The pushback from employees comes at a time where businesses are facing a dent in their wallets as a result of cutting their workforce en-masse. During the second quarter of 2024, Dell shelled out $364 million in severance expenses, according to its latest earnings report. In 2023 alone, Dell paid over $700 million in severance costs after it conducted two rounds of layoffs.

More Labor:

U.S. workers refuse to give up remote work

Employees in corporate America are having a hard time breaking up with working from their homes after it became more popular during the 2020 Covid pandemic due to widespread office closures.

According to a recent survey from USA Today, 59% of remote workers claim that working from their homes provides them with better work-life balance. Also, 55% said that it saves them time commuting to work, and 54% said that they feel more comfortable working from their own space at home than in the office.