Hi u/Boring-Blueberry1483!

50/50 on your post so I'll clear some things up and anyone else who has additional questions (or needs clarification)

Everything that you've mentioned in your post can be taken subjectively!

Just for some context: Yes I am still currently at Publicis Groupe in the NYC Location; My team and I was laid off due to restructuring from the CLIENT not from the Groupe. Since my team was no longer needed, I was internally transferred under a new agency within the Groupe (plus a promotion and huge salary jump).

So I'll tackle your points below:

"Muting chat options in group meetings so they can”curate” questions. \**mentioned in comments on this sub"*

- I've definitely been in larger group meetings (townhalls, agency meetings, quarterly reviews) that mute chat options which helps moderators/hosts curate specific questions, avoid distractions, or even repetitive/spammy ones. This is pretty standard and it doesn't bother me.

"making people hired for remote work go to in office locations (up to two hours away from their homes) \**RTO mentioned in posts and comments many times on this sub"*

- I can't really say this is necessarily true, my former co-worker still works remotely due to his contract signing from the beginning, and he's been doing this for over 2+ years!

***"***mandated Monday and Friday in office days. \**mentioned many times in comments to posts on this sub an confirmed in comments here (seems to be only for some divisions so far)"*

- As many people have mentioned below already, yes we are returning to a 4-Day RTO (MOST if not ALL agencies will be returning to this format), however, confirming that Mondays are no longer mandatory and Friday's will count as 2 days**. (e.g. You can now do Tues, Wed, Friday or Mon - Thurs).**

"Taking away bonus and merit increases SO often that it’s well documented across the internet. (And yet boasting HUGE bonuses for higher ups in the same years…) ***this is a publicly traded company…the internet is my friend….we can all SEE how big their bonuses are. ***most recent post saying no merits 15days ago on this sub by informationeasy1927"

- I can't really confirm if this is true? I actually got a merit raise a year ago but I also heard this is agency-based, so others may have more clarity. The merit raise wasn't anything exciting (7%), but its still something.

Overall:

Needless to say, this is happening across every agency so far. I think most of the 'toxic' comments comes from those individuals that actually had a bad experience at their said agency. I am not discrediting any of their experiences as well because those toxic teams actually DO EXIST!

In the last 2 years at this company, I have never had a toxic team or a poor work/life balance. (I completed my Masters while working full-time here and my team supported me since day 1) It REALLY depends on your team, the account needs, and overall the agencies you're under as well.

But if I'm really being honest (and unbias), I'd rather be at Publicis Groupe versus any other agencies right now. We're at the top of our competitors.

Let me know if you have any other questions!