Return to Office Mandates

How to survive in 2025

2025 will be the year of the Return to Office Mandates. We are living through the initial gyrations of this process. And it ain’t pretty.

The first shot of the RTO pistol was initiated in the second-smallest state in the US. Yes, Delaware. From Silicon Valley darlings to manufacturing heavyweights, Delaware is the preferred choice for companies looking to incorporate their businesses. The Delaware corporate law is very business-friendly and there is no state income tax for transactions outside the state.

But when Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick forced Elon Musk to purchase Twitter for $44B, the ruling triggered a tsunami of work-life conflicts. The $44B price tag for Twitter is still considered one of the most overpriced transaction in Silicon Valley. Musk brought in several helpers to quickly analyze the business and stop the inevitable bleeding. Elon’s first email to employees was about remote work. That email was sent November 9, 2022, a day that will live in employment infamy.

Elon had previously made RTO mandates at Tesla in early 2022. But there is a huge chasm between a large-scale auto manufacturer and the computer focused software developers at Twitter. Tesla had thousands of manufacturing workers in the plants throughout COVID while their office-based co-workers remained mostly remote. The contrast at Tesla was noticeable and a problem for manufacturing worker morale. At Twitter, there was never a tangible product, just continual software updates that wouldn’t necessarily require in-office collaboration.

Twitter - which became X - reduced their employment rolls by roughly 80% using RTO as one of the key methods. The choice was come into the office or stay home, permanently. Many other employers have made similar cuts - although not as severe - and a RTO mandate is a simple method to reduce headcount. Amazon, META, Starbucks, Walmart and many other large corporations with office workers followed Musk’s approach, with varying results.

Can Energy Workers Be Productive in a Remote Office?

Renewable energy companies in the US have been pretty flexible with their office policies. Avangrid did implement a company-wide RTO which dramatically increased its in-office presence from 3 days to 5 days a week in 2024 with a 70% increase in office occupancy. But Avangrid also took the wise steps of providing advanced notice of the return and providing support services for the transition.

Renewable companies need people in the office and at the job site to deliver electricity. Sure, there are several departments that could go almost fully remote - accounting, IT, outside customer support, and some highly specialized functions. But large portions of the business require people to be onsite.

Let’s focus on engineering since their skill set can be remotely used. And because I have firsthand experience, having worked remotely for roughly half of my engineering life.

Engineers tend to fall into two camps;

Application Engineers that work directly with technicians and site managers to identify and correct problems, and

Analytical Engineers that optimize system performance using calculations and digital tools.

Both types can be based remotely. But there are caveats to remain gainfully employed while remote:

1 - Be irreplaceable. Have a skill set that is extremely hard to find or acquire. Work on your knowledge base and continually add new skills.

2 - Be available. That means having your phone on during, and sometimes after, business hours. Respond to email quickly - even if that means sending replies that say you’ll get to it later in the week. And use video on Teams/Meet/Zoom calls. Spend a few bucks on a microphone and a decent webcam. And make sure you have reliable internet service - Starlink is pretty good for remote locations.

3 - Stay in contact with management. Management is your key to longevity in a company. Remote workers are easy to cut in a reduction in force. Keep informed with the latest management directives. Stay in tune with office politics - who is staying/who is leaving/where is the company headed.

4 - Get onsite as much as reasonable. When there is a crisis, get to the office. Technicians need you in the field - get out there. Supplier having a production problem, book a flight.

5 - Keep your CV (resume) and LinkedIn profile updated. Hey - it’s smart to always be one step ahead of your employer. You never know what opportunities may present themselves.

6 - Maintain relationships outside of your company. Your next job will likely come from someone not working for your current employer. You never know when you will need to find your next landing spot.

While RTO efforts may be inevitable, your response is not. Stay ahead of the trends. Work hard. Keep yourself informed.

Stay charged!

Allen

P.S. Wondering how or to what extent RTO policies may be implemented in the wind industry? Listen as we discuss it in this week’s episode of The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.