An internal letter criticizing SAP SE’s return-to-office policy has garnered more than 5,000 signatures in less than two weeks, with employees at the German software company threatening to seek another task besides returning.
“We feel betrayed by a company that until recently encouraged us to work from home, only to ask for a radical change in direction,” according to the letter, which was posted internally and seen by Bloomberg News. The company’s European works council, a group that represents SAP’s employees on the continent, said the requirement to be back in the office was unreasonable after employees had been told they could continue remotely.
SAP, Europe’s largest software company, introduced new rules in early January that will require painters around the world to paint on a site or on-site with a visitor 3 days a week starting in April. Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, rejected the opposition. of the paint council and said that running away from home would burden SAP with its culture and team paints.
“I don’t really think that on a video conferencing platform you can perceive our culture, you can learn for yourself and allow yourself to do your homework better,” Klein said last week after the company’s financial results.
SAP, in a statement Wednesday, said that “finding the right balance between remote and on-site work is helping to drive productivity, innovation and artist well-being. We are evolving our flexible operating policy to align with the most productive practices in the market and our own experience as a leader in hybrid racing.
Many companies have increased return-to-office requirements over the last year, replacing employee-friendly incentives like happy hours and commuter subsidies with more punitive measures including disciplinary action or limited career advancement if attendance targets aren’t met. Earlier this month, International Business Machines Corp. told managers they’d be required to move near an office and start attending three times a week unless they wanted to leave the company.
Return-to-office rules are often seen as fueling attrition. The SAP employees wrote in their letter that if the new requirement is intended as a “zero-cost staff reduction strategy,” it will only drive away talented employees.
The technology sector in particular saw a tightening of regulations as the market deteriorated and the threat of job cuts tipped the balance in favor of employers. Still, workplace footfall in the U. S. remained fairly stagnant in 2023, according to data from workplace safety company Kastle Systems. In the 10 largest U. S. business districts, workplace staff numbers were around 50% of pre-pandemic levels, and tech-intensive regions such as the Bay Area San Francisco, reported even lower percentages.
Less than a month after presenting the back-to-office policy, SAP announced restructuring that would affect 8,000 employees. SAP said it would identify “AI-driven efficiencies” in its operations and restructure parts of the business to deal with the changes. The company says it plans to end 2024 with a headcount similar to current levels. SAP had almost 108,000 employees as of the end of December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“We are the ones who have learned to adapt to the lack of significant wage increases over the years,” the painting council states in the letter, which has been viewed more than 100,000 times. “To compensate for this, we take credit for the ability to work remotely and relocate to places where the cost of living is lower, far from beloved metropolises. “