Return-to-Office Mandate Cites Culture, Collaboration, and Commercial Lease That Runs Through 2031
The memo mentions "serendipitous hallway moments" three times and "the landlord" once, in a footnote.
CHICAGO — Employees at Verdant Systems, a 2,000-person marketing-software company, received a memo Tuesday requiring four days a week in the office starting in January, citing the company's commitment to culture, collaboration, mentorship, "the energy of being together," and, in a footnote on the final page, "Section 4.2 of the Master Lease Agreement, 300 W. Adams St., term ending March 31, 2031."
"We've heard from so many of you that you miss the spark of in-person work," CEO Douglas Whitmore wrote. "The whiteboard sessions. The lunches. The hallway moment where a chance conversation becomes the next big idea. We are also, as a footnote, paying $9.2 million a year for six floors of a building that currently has an average occupancy of 11 people and a dog."
The memo describes a "vibrant, redesigned workspace" with new collaboration zones, which employees confirmed are the old conference rooms with the doors removed. It also promises "regular in-office programming," a phrase that sources say refers to a monthly bagel.
Employees expressed skepticism about the stated rationale. "I've been fully remote for six years and got promoted twice," said one engineer. "Now I'm being told that my growth requires me to sit in a building downtown so that a real estate line item can be described as 'utilized.' They should just say that. I'd respect it more."
Asked about the footnote, a company spokesperson said the lease was "one of many factors," and that the primary factors were culture and collaboration, and that the company's culture "has always included honoring its commitments, including contractual ones, through 2031."
The memo closed by noting that attendance will be tracked via badge swipes, "not as surveillance but as a way of celebrating together," and that badge data will be reviewed quarterly, in the office.