AT&T Recalibrates RTO Tracking Amid Trust & Accuracy Issues

The intensifying corporate drive to enforce return-to-office (RTO) mandates has increasingly relied on sophisticated technological surveillance of employee presence. Telecommunications giant AT&T, a prominent adopter of such systems, is now recalibrating its approach to employee attendance monitoring, acknowledging significant accuracy issues and the resultant erosion of internal trust among its workforce.

AT&T’s internal “presence reporting” system was initially introduced to enforce a strict RTO policy, requiring most salaried employees to be on-site for at least eight hours a day, five days a week. The system utilized a combination of badge swipes, laptop network connections, and mobile device location data to infer an employee’s time in the office. Its primary objective, as articulated by Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Kellyn Kenny, was to identify individuals who were not consistently meeting these physical presence requirements, effectively targeting “freeloaders.”

Addressing Employee Discontent

However, an internal employee survey highlighted widespread discontent, with a substantial portion of the workforce indicating that AT&T’s policies and systems did not adequately support their best work, specifically citing the presence reports. Employees reported difficulties managing personal commitments, such as doctors’ appointments, without running afoul of the rigid system. Kellyn Kenny openly acknowledged the system’s inaccuracies, stating, “I also now understand how the fact that it is inaccurate is driving people to the brink of frustration, and it’s creating distrust.”

CEO John Stankey further elaborated on a strategic pivot, indicating a shift away from scrutinizing individual outliers to analyzing broader behavioral patterns across cohorts. He noted, “In several forums, I’ve expressed concerns that past data indicated more outliers than we’d like.” Stankey emphasized that an individual’s data would need to differ “significantly” from their peers before being linked to specific behaviors, suggesting a move towards systemic analysis over individual micro-management.

Broader Industry Trends and Economic Implications

AT&T’s experience is not isolated; it mirrors a broader corporate trend. Companies like Amazon, JP Morgan, and Microsoft have also tightened RTO mandates and deployed technology to track employee compliance. A recent survey by commercial real-estate firm CBRE revealed that more than two-thirds of employers now track employee attendance, with over a third having taken enforcement actions. While executives often cite improved collaboration and productivity as motivators, the overall results of these mandates remain mixed.

The imposition of strict or error-prone tracking systems carries significant organizational risks. Such measures can lead to experienced employees seeking opportunities elsewhere, hinder the recruitment of new talent (particularly in competitive fields like AI), and undermine overall motivation and trust. Internal documents from Amazon, for instance, indicated that its RTO policy was impacting its ability to attract top AI talent. Similarly, a Harvard leadership expert suggested that Meta’s shifting RTO efforts could foster “a huge amount of distrust” within the company.

Strategic Business Context for AT&T

For AT&T, this policy adjustment is set against a backdrop of significant corporate transformation. The telecom giant is undertaking a multiyear initiative to reduce its workforce and cut approximately $6 billion in costs as it decommissions its legacy copper-based network in favor of new fiber and 5G technologies. The company’s workforce decreased from over 160,000 at the start of 2023 to around 140,000 this year. While the presence system initially served its purpose in identifying “free riders,” its inaccuracies and the resulting impact on employee morale potentially complicate these broader business objectives.

The system reportedly altered the workplace reality for many salaried managerial workers, who traditionally experienced more flexible arrangements. Moreover, the focus on strict eight-hour tracking reportedly eroded the motivation of some high-performing employees to consistently put in extra time. Although AT&T employees have noted improvements in the accuracy of their presence reports in recent months, the challenge of rebuilding trust within the organization remains a more protracted and complex endeavor. The company’s ability to navigate its strategic transitions successfully may hinge significantly on addressing this foundational aspect of its internal culture.