Dell to Remote Workers – “No Promotion for You”

Fully remote Dell employees will not be eligible for promotion beginning in May 2024. According to Business Insider, the change in policy is a reversal from the company’s previous work-from-home stance.  Not that long ago, CEO Michael Dell was quoted saying “If you are counting on forced hours spent in a traditional office to create collaboration and provide a feeling of belonging within your organization, you’re doing it wrong.”

Hybrid workers have to come into the office a minimum of 39 days per quarter, approximately three times a week. Those who want to stay fully remote will not only miss the chance for promotions, but they will also not be able to change roles within the company. 

Dell’s current statement is “In today’s global technology revolution, we believe in-person connections paired with a flexible approach are critical to drive innovation and value differentiation.”

Dell had remote workers before the COVID-19 pandemic. Until 2020, 65% of Dell employees were working remotely at least one day per week, per a blog that CEO Michael Dell penned via LinkedIn in September 2022. An anonymous Dell worker who reportedly has been remote for over 10 years said that between 10-15% “of every team was remote.”

Clearly the company more than tolerated remote work, but the upcoming limitations for fully remote workers appears to be drastic measure by Dell to discourage people from working from home.

“We’re being forced into a position where either we’re going to be staying as the low man on the totem pole, first on the chopping block when it comes to workforce reduction, or we can be hybrid and go in multiple days a week, which really affects a lot of us,” said an anonymous employee. A number of unnamed employees expressed concern that the new policy is an attempt to get people to quit so that Dell can save money on human resources without the severance costs of layoffs, despite record profits by tech companies. Others are concerned that the rule changes will disproportionately affect women.

A study by University of Pittsburgh researchers of some S&P 500 businesses found that return-to-office directives hurt employee morale and do not boost company finances. Additionally, a 2021 survey found that employees allowed to work from home were less likely to look for a new job and tended to be more productive.