Internet Brands Controversy

[Cam]

The California-based parent company of WebMD has published a cringe-inducing video mocking remote workers and threatening employees who continue to refuse to return to the office.
In a video meant for internal employees but which was also published on the company’s public Vimeo page, Internet Brands CEO Bob Brisco tells employees that “unfortunately, too big of a group” is still only working remotely and that he is getting “more serious” about making sure that changes in the near future.

“We aren’t asking or negotiating at this point. We’re informing,” he says at one point.
In the two-minute video, which has since been updated to adress the criticism the company received, Brisco reprimands employees who have refused to come in while the classic New Orleans song “Iko Iko" plays in the background. The video crosses into the bizarre from there. At various points, a stock image crosses the screen of a white-collar remote worker taking a video call from his kitchen while still in his boxers, and a Google Hangout welcome page appears, stating that no one else is on the call because “Everyone is in person now!”

Source: https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kx...any-demands-return-to-office-in-bizarre-video

Internet Brands (the parent company of vBulletin) is trying to push their employees to get back to the office. 😛

 

[Cam]

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They edited the video over on their Vimeo a little bit (plus it won't let me embed that on here), so here's the original video on Twitter.

 

[Katrina]

Big companies are finding that their remote workers aren't always working! Shocker!!

My husband is IT and gets so mad when he calls a user and the guy says, "I'm out walking my dog now, I'll call you back in 15 minutes."

OR the guy says, "I'm at the beach and the wifi is slow, can you do something about it?"

OR the guy says, "Oh, I couldn't answer the phone, I was out shopping."

All those responses are real life and it's probably not just happening where my husband works. Companies are forced to pay people to walk their dogs, sit at the beach with crawling wifi where they can't work on big blueprints, and they go out shopping. Why would they want to keep these people on remote???

 

[Carlos X]

This is an old conversation. Internet Brands is so... behind. This is about 2 years too late.

The first year in 2021 would've been excusable but yeah, this is 2 years too late.

I always knew that remote work wouldn't be "satisfying" to C.E.O's like Bob. It just breeds laziness. You don't seem to be at work, how'd they know you were working? How do they know that you're coding, or whatever your job is.

It was a stupid experiment.

How is vBulletin going to survive in the next few years if developers are fired? I know they have websites, but my example is just a hypothetical.

How? This is not the time to FAFO. A recession is looming.

 

[zappaDPJ]

There's actually a good reason why some of their employees don't want to return to the office. WebMD relocated its HQ to Newark recently which by some accounts has added 80 minutes to the commute.

 

[Carlos X]

There's actually a good reason why some of their employees don't want to return to the office. WebMD relocated its HQ to Newark recently which by some accounts has added 80 minutes to the commute.

Well, those people should've a bit more vocal a long time ago. Speak up about the move, instead of waiting to get fired. Which results in not being able to get hired. (Somewhere else, I meant.)

 

[Uncrowned Guard]

I can see the push to remove remote work as it has a lot of hurdles that employees often abuse and employers have struggled to find solutions for. I don't think remote work is a lost cause, but once reports show it is producing less for the company and the company can't find solutions for that, well they are going to end the remote work.

Granted, the way that many companies have handled to return to office methods has been a bit crazy, to say the least.

 

[Jay™]

Well, those people should've a bit more vocal a long time ago. Speak up about the move, instead of waiting to get fired. Which results in not being able to get hired. (Somewhere else, I meant.)

Some people need to eat and pay bills so it's not that easy to jump up and say something, you being a CEO should know this.😀

 

[Carlos X]

Some people need to eat and pay bills so it's not that easy to jump up and say something, you being a CEO should know this.😀

Yes, but I do speak up on management misfits. This is not something you should sleep on. Like that weekly gas payout? Its gonna eat your wallet.

What was $5 to $20 a week has now become $30 now. An hour's drive? In THIS inflation? Really?

Out of here...

 

[zappaDPJ]

Some people need to eat and pay bills so it's not that easy to jump up and say something, you being a CEO should know this.😀

One of the biggest complaints against WebMD/Internet Brands apart from the low wages is that as an employee you have no say. A trip to Human Resources usually ends with your stuff in a box.

 

[Carlos X]

One of the biggest complaints against WebMD/Internet Brands apart from the low wages is that as an employee you have no say. A trip to Human Resources usually ends with your stuff in a box.

Then, its a hostile environment. Quit beforehand.

Line up a new job, before quitting, btw.