By: Stephanie Diana Eubank
Remote Work has been the subject of a lot of backlashes this year. Much of it stems from companies wanting to demonize employees for wanting remote work and remote work itself to deflect some serious organizational issues within the company and ongoing recession fears.
- Companies want a layoff without the layoff repercussions like paying for unemployment.
- Companies are sick of all the lawsuits for wrongful termination and hostile work environments because remote allows for more transparency.
- It also has brought back the desire by employees to want Unions to help protect their rights.
- The labor market is more competitive, and during COVID, employees learned more about their rights and have learned to set healthy boundaries through the “Quiet Quitting” and “Acting Your Wage” movements.
However, aside from normal scams to force people back into the workplace, some companies are resorting to more creative ways to attempt to shame remote workers. These attempts to shame remote workers like they are Cersei Lannister with a bell yelling “Shame” really are hypocritical here. It also shows that employers are not willing to ask hard questions about what employees would need to be able to be in person again.
The scam I am referring to is the current controversy of Marc Benioff of Salesforce offering to donate to “a local charity” for every worker that comes into work in person. I call this tactic a scam and not as Fortune and Gizmodo.com call it generosity because it really isn’t.
I was prompted to do more digging into the Salesforce issue when like many, I saw the Youtube video from Attorney Ryan at https://youtube.com/shorts/oQiWZJNuaJQ?feature=share . In his video, he claims that Benioff plans to deduct from the charity for all those who do not come into work in person. However, I cannot confirm or deny this statement as I found no deduction information. So, Attorney Ryan, if you have other information on this part to share, I welcome it.
However, the scam part came across when I researched the issue further. All the articles published about this say that the donations will be made to, “a local charity”. This is suspicious to me as the charity is not clearly defined. It is also a common tool for those who have a lot of wealth to use philanthropic charities to hide money and take a tax break. In the case of Benioff, he and his wife are on the board and head several charities, as cited on foundationguide.org. Further, there is little oversight about donations, which can lead to the wealthy still maintaining a controlling interest in the money instead of leaving it to the charities to use freely. A more concise explanation can be found by Adam Conover in his TV show, “Adam Ruins Everything”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWNQuzkSqSM.
So, before any Salesforce employees or other companies start to take into this scam, a few questions need to be asked. Such as are these charities under the control of someone close to the head of the company. Is this sort of a method easy to research and see that it’s a scam to make remote workers come back to the office? And is this a good PR move?
This controversy clearly shows that deeper conversations need to be had. Such as, why are these companies demanding people return to the office? Does the reason fall under the three insidious reasons that have been going on since 2013? If a company comes up with a really good reason, they need to ask themselves, “What would my employees need to be supported and able to come back into the office in person?”.
Such as Salesforce for example, is in San Francisco, one of the most expensive places in the country to live. According to an NBC Bay Area article, https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/report-bay-area-home-to-many-of-nations-most-costly-commutes/2054545/#:~:text=Coming%20in%20second%20with%20a,minutes%2C%20according%20to%20the%20report the average person working in San Francisco where Salesforce is located commute at least 34 minutes one way every day. Which means most live in Solano, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties. Per NBC, each person spends over $11k per year on commuting.
Moreover, depending on whether they have families because they must live so far away, many have childcare expenses to address. As a working mom, I can speak to how hard it was to return to the office and be so far from my kids even though they had great childcare and how remote work allowed more bonding and time with my boys. This means many may additionally have to pay for private school or move further and have a longer commute to have their children in better school districts or aim for areas with more resources for their children if they have special needs.
There is also the cost of housing. Per Zippia.com https://www.zippia.com/salesforce-careers-10060/salary/california/ The average salary for a worker at Salesforce is Between $95k- $137k per year. Now for those outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, that sounds like a lot; however, that is not a lot of money for that area. According to a Fox 11 News article in Los Angeles, from April 2023 noted, for Alameda County, the median income is $155k, and to be middle class, the income ranges from $104k- $311k to be considered middle class. The article can be found at https://www.foxla.com/news/middle-class-california-income-report . The report showed that the low-income max for San Jose and San Francisco is around $80k a year. Based on this information, Salesforce workers are making just a little above low income for their area and at the lower end on average for middle-class status.
After going over all this research and all these statistics, companies cannot effectively provide for their employees to encourage an in-person model of business anymore. It just isn’t doable. Remote work is the most effective way to get productive workers and allows employees to be less stressed when providing for themselves and their families. The math doesn’t lie. No, the amount of shaming or scamming will work out well for business. It is clear that Remote is here to stay.
Work Cited
Barr, K. (2023, June 6). Salesforce tells employees it will donate $10 per day to charity if they come back to the Office. Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/salesforce-return-to-office-remote-work-tech-jobs-1850511872
Kelly, J. (2023, June 12). Employee tracking and charity donations: Google, salesforce, Meta, Apple and Microsoft’s return-to-office plans. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2023/06/09/employee-tracking-and-charity-donations-google-salesforce-meta-apple-and-microsofts-return-to-office-plans/?sh=50f81a32722f
Albrecht, L. (2023, June 7). Salesforce is trying a “cute gimmick” to get workers back to the Office. MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/salesforce-donating-10-per-day-to-get-workers-back-to-the-office-is-a-cute-gimmick-but-will-it-actually-work-a5ae7663
Attorney Ryan Stygar. (2023). Come To The Office Or Else. YouTube. Retrieved June 12, 2023, from https://youtube.com/shorts/oQiWZJNuaJQ?feature=share.
Marc Benioff – the outspoken CEO who gives big. Foundation Guide. (2021, March 14). https://foundationguide.org/philanthropist/marc-benioff/#:~:text=Marc%20and%20Lynne%20Benioff%20are,the%20UCSF%20Benioff%20Children’s%20Hospital.
True TV. (2019). Adam Ruins Everything – Why Billionaire Philanthropy is Not So Selfless. YouTube. Retrieved June 12, 2023, from https://youtu.be/KWNQuzkSqSM.
Rezal, A., & Devulapalli, S. (2022, November 7). Most people who work for San Francisco don’t live in the city. here’s why. San Francisco Chronicle. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/remote-work-17510522.php
Dr. Stephanie Diana Eubank DBA Remote Team Research (AKA Dr. Bear) 