Welcome back to the office! Unfortunately, there's nowhere for you to sit.

"After the pandemic-driven wave of remote work, many employees are being dragged, kicking and screaming, back into the office. For workers at companies such as Amazon, JPMorgan, and Starbucks, the perpetual workday-in-your-pajamas party is over. The odd wrinkle is that in some cases, it's not just employees who aren't ready to be back at work every day. Their employers aren't ready for it, either, at least logistically."

"Return-to-office five days a week: woof, but such is life. Return-to-office five days a week when there aren't enough places for people to sit: What??? At least Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is aware of the issue - in a memo to staff, he said New York employees get a pass on the butts-in-seats mandate until the company figures out where all those butts will go."

Companies are pushing return-to-office mandates while failing to provide adequate workspace, leading to seating shortages and logistical gaps. Employees are competing for desks, occupying common areas, or refusing to comply until workplaces plan properly. Major employers including Instagram, AT&T, and Amazon have faced space constraints, delayed RTO rollouts, or acknowledged one-for-one seating will not be available. Managers sometimes enforce attendance without a clear rationale or infrastructure, eroding employee morale and creating friction. The mismatch between mandates and physical capacity highlights broader issues in hybrid-work policy design and workplace readiness.

Read at Business Insider