New rule implemented today… we are not allowed to eat breakfast at our desks. Set start and end times for the work day is quite normal, but the entire office has set lunch times in an effort to “cover the phones” and includes people who don't even have desk phone , government mandated tea breaks are scheduled with an alarm on someone's phone to better enforce the “no personal mobile phone usage during work hours” (while fair doesnt account for the fact that othwr professional services will only call during work hours). WFH isnt a option. To be clear the office is a professional services business so employees have meetings with clients at random times, sometimes in the office sometimes at clients homes, by virtue of the nature of the business flexibiltiy is necessary. Then today one of the managers blew up because someone was eating their breakfast at their desk. If I had to extrapolate I'd guess the issue was the employee using company time to prepare food?? But no one mentioned it, they only said how ridiculous it was that the employee was eating breakfast at their desk and that it better not happen again.
Meanwhile I know of other business is the same city offering the same professional services yet there are no set start and end times, wfh is an option, paying way better and our management can't fathom how they can fix the brain drain in the company.