GM points return-to-office mandate for distant employees

Workers who had labored remotely throughout the Covid-19 pandemic are anticipated to “pivot to a extra common in-person work cycle,” which incorporates three days on GM’s campus every week, a spokesperson mentioned Friday. The return-to-office mandate will take impact later this yr, the spokesperson mentioned.

“We’re dedicated to sustaining flexibility to make sure our workers can attend to non-public commitments,” the spokesperson mentioned. “We’ll share particulars with them within the coming weeks.” 

Detroit-based GM joins an extended listing of firms, together with Apple Inc., Peloton Interactive Inc. and Comcast Corp., which have requested employees since Labor Day to return to workplaces a number of days per week.

GM, like a lot of the auto trade, allowed white-collar employees to log in remotely beneath its “work appropriately” technique throughout the pandemic. 

Ford Motor Co. mentioned Saturday it’s preserving a “versatile hybrid” mannequin that solely requires salaried employees to look in-person for group conferences. Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. gives its company workers the choice to work at home on a regular basis.

These insurance policies stand in stark distinction to Tesla Inc., the place Chief Government Officer Elon Musk ordered employees in June to spend 40 hours per week within the workplace and dismissed distant work as “fake.”

Whereas many CEOs stay vital of distant work, some analysis has proven that individuals who work at home are simply as productive and sometimes extra glad than workplace employees.

Nonetheless, the power to work remotely presents a wrinkle for firms with a mixture of white-collar and frontline employees: Administration should stroll a advantageous line once they lengthen flexibility to some workers and to not others.

GM employs greater than 94,000 individuals within the US, together with about 2,300 employees at its Detroit Renaissance Heart world headquarters, in line with the corporate’s web site.

—With help by Keith Naughton