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The conference rooms of Ford headquarters in Dearborn became the scene of a rather original digital protest: on Thursday morning, the office screens showed a provocative image of CEO Jim Farley with a crossed out circle on his face and the words "F**k RTO". The acronym RTO stands for Return to Office and describes company policies aimed at bringing people back to work in the office.A trend that we see more or less all over the world.Policies that have often created tensions, but it is the first time we have witnessed such a theatrical demonstration of dissent. You might also be interested in Look up Dave Tovar, a Ford spokesman, simply told the Detroit Free Press that the company is "aware of the inappropriate use of corporate IT technology and is conducting an investigation."The speed with which the images spread on social media amplified the impact of the protest, forcing the company to respond immediately. The identity of the person responsible remains a mystery, but experts agree that only someone with in-depth knowledge of the internal network infrastructure could have orchestrated such an operation.Hacking screens requires specific technical skills that go far beyond those of an average employee.This detail suggests that the culprit is probably someone from the IT department, with privileged access to company systems and the ability to manipulate the displays distributed throughout the offices. Forced return and employee resistance On the other hand, IT workers are often the most hostile to RTO policies.Frequently these people are able to carry out their work from anywhere in the world - except for those cases in which they have to physically operate the machines - and understandably they do not tolerate the obligation to work in the office. Other workers, such as administration workers, could also perfectly work from home, and many of them also oppose the RTO.But in this case it makes more than sense to think of someone with IT skills and privileged access. Ford has asked most of its workers to return to the office four days a week starting September 1st (the workers, of course, work at the factory).The company justifies this shift by arguing that "working together in person on a daily basis will help accelerate Ford's transformation into a higher-growth, higher-margin, less cyclical and more dynamic company." The dignity of an assigned desk seems like a luxury of the past Reactions on social media reveal widespread discontent that goes beyond the simple preference for working from home.One Reddit user described the situation as "The Hunger Games of finding a seat," complaining that the company doesn't even guarantee assigned desks for employees.“And good luck sitting next to your team,” the comment adds, “even if 'collaboration' was supposedly the goal.” These difficulties may not be a simple error of judgment: according to some, in fact, companies implement RTO policies as an alternative to dismissal.They would, in fact, be an attrition tool to push employees to voluntarily resign, thus avoiding the costs of layoffs.Although Microsoft and other large corporations categorically reject these reasons, suspicion remains strong among workers. Another important issue is investment in structures: companies have built new offices, and no one likes the idea of ​​seeing them empty.Ford will open its new headquarters in Dearborn next month, and management wants to see the offices full.However, the digital protest shows that not all employees are willing to passively accept this change, and some are ready to risk their careers to make their voices heard.