It looks like the tech bubble pop is finally hitting Oklahoma!
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve received word via the Ogle Mole Network that Paycom – the local tech company that outbid us for naming rights to OKC's downtown arena – is quickly moving away from its popular work-from-home policy and demanding its QA & IMS employee groups return to the office by January 12th.
I’m not 100% sure what those acronyms and job responsibilities mean in Paycom speak, but according to one Ogle Mole, the move will affect a broad base of employees who work at the corporate headquarters just north of the Kilpatrick Turnpike.
An Ogle Mole sent us a screenshot of an internal announcement Paycom put together about the news last month. You can view it here or just read some of the text below:
Technology leadership communicated a plan to bring Technology team members back to working more in-office beginning in January. Years of dedication and hard work have built Paycom into an industry leader. We've generated significant momentum and the company's trajectory is one that should make us all proud and excited about our path forward.
With so many upcoming critical projects. It's more important than ever our teams perform at their highest level and moving to more of an in-office environment will allow us to be connected better and collaborate more.
Our plan to bring team members back to in-office work is as follows:
• QA and IMS will start in-office five days a week as they're the groups closest to our customers.
• QA and IMS TLS will start in-office Jan. 12.
• All other QA and IMS team members will start in-office Jan. 16
• Data Services teams reporting to Susan Beasley will be in-office full time beginning March 16 for TLs and March 20 for all other team members. pending space availability.
• Dev. Software Delivery and critical IT groups will begin a hybrid 3/2 schedule beginning March 16 for TLs and March 20 for all other team members. pending space availability.
• All other Technology team members not mentioned above will be in-office five days a week beginning Thursday, March 16, for TLs and Monday, March 20. for all other team members, pending space availability.
Many logistical details are still being finalized, and as those details are solidified, they will be clearly communicated to you…
Thank you.
Technology Leadership
As I mentioned in my sensational headline, the decision has caused quite a stir with Paycom employees.
I can see why.
At the dawn of the pandemic, Paycom was quick to move to remote work, and in the years since, has allowed certain employee groups to work from home up to four days a week. They’ve even used it as a recruiting tool to attract new talent.
Now, on a whim, employees with young kids have less than a month to find childcare (good luck with that!) while others who bought homes in rural areas based on the company’s work-from-home policy are suddenly staring down long commutes and increased transportation costs.
I guess Paycom knew the policy would be unpopular, so they addressed it in a Q&A that accompanied the announcement.
✓ During my recruiting process. I was told I would only have to be in the office one day a week. Why is that changing?
Though that information was valid at the time of your hire, the decision has been made for all Technology team members to begin working more in-office.
✓ Will we ever move back to a remote work environment?
Technology leadership is always evaluating what is best for Paycom and our team members.
Yikes. I thought Paycom was supposed to be a hip and cool company that treated employees to a fun and lively prom. That Q&A reads like it was written by representatives from the Borg.
Despite Paycom’s best efforts to preemptively answer complaints, employees (some of which may now be former employees) left 248 public messages on internal message boards complaining about the policy and how it affected them.
In fact, they left so many comments that the company paused all comments!
We’ve acquired screenshots of these comments via the Ogle Mole Network and shared them below. They’d don’t really fit on the screen, but you can open up each screenshot in a new window to read them in their entirety:
Yikes, those are some fired-up unemployees! I guess you can’t blame them for being salty.
For half of my professional career, from about 2000 - 2011, I cut my teeth in corporate America, kissing just enough to earn my own window office before being unceremoniously laid off. Since then, I’ve primarily worked from home, living the dream life of a bossless solopreneur, kissing just enough ass to get my recliner by a window. From an employee perspective, working from home is waaaaay better. It’s more relaxing, convenient, and way less productive.
According to the Ogle Mole Network, some employees are speculating PayCom made the move to weed out employees. They've also apparently started downsizing the QA department since the announcement was made, parting ways with many longtime employees.
I guess that’s not too surprising.
Paycom, like most tech companies across the US, is facing increased business costs, rising interest rates, and falling stock prices. I guess the corporate logic is before they have to conduct expensive layoffs, they might as well force out some employees with a drastic change to the Company’s work-from-home policy.
Anyway, if you work at Paycom and have more information about this fiasco you’d like to share, shoot us an email or text on the Ogle Mole Tip Line.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
