LEADERSHIP: Mark Zuckerberg’s new return-to-office mandate is a clear problem, says Harvard expert: It’ll cause a ‘huge amount of distrust’

"Mark Zuckerberg",

 

results," said Wilkins. "And they're sort of saying, 'Well, it's either drive the results or be empathetic. I can't do both.'"

That results-driven mindset, perhaps exacerbated by a rash of layoffs in the tech industry between late 2022 and mid-2023, makes it hard for bosses to put themselves in their employees' shoes right now, says Gardner.

In Meta's case, the tech giant laid off more than 20,000 workers between November 2022 and May 2023. Some of those ex-staffers were notified via email, causing another rift of trust between Zuckerberg and his employees.

The workers who remain may be less likely to interpret new rules charitably — even though some parts of the new mandate sound worse than they actually are, Gardner says.

"Most people are already using their badges to scan into the office. Workplace attendance has [long] been monitored in that way," she says. "It will help show that everyone is being held to the same standard and that your colleagues are following the rules the same way that you are."

More broadly, return-to-office mandates across the country need to show more justifiable reasons for bringing workers together, says Gardner — especially when the employees themselves push back.

"Maybe someone has social anxiety and doesn't perform well in an office setting, or they're recovering from a trauma or are unable to commute to the workplace, " she says. "Bosses need to take the time to consider why employees aren't excited about returning to work, and get to the root of that."