Et tu, Ford? Automaker lets 30K workers stay home post-pandemic

Another troubling sign for office sector, but Wall Street is nudging employees back

The “flexible hybrid model” is set to debut in July in North America (iStock)
The “flexible hybrid model” is set to debut in July in North America (iStock)

Ford Motor Co. will let some of its employees park it at home post-pandemic.

The automaker revealed its “flexible hybrid model” Wednesday. It is allowing more than 30,000 employees to keep working from home even when it’s safe to return to offices, Bloomberg News reported.

The system, which is set to debut in July in North America, will apply to most salaried staff and not factory workers, the publication reported. Employees can come into the office for meetings and team-building activities, but can stay at home for “heads-down work.”

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The announcement comes as Wall Street employers are nudging workers back to the office. Hundreds of interns at JPMorgan Chase & Co. are set to work in its New York and London offices in the coming months, and companies including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Group hope to see more employees back in the office in the summer, the publication reported.

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As of March 3, just under 15 percent of New York-area office workers were at their desks, according to card-swipe company Kastle Systems.

Target last week announced plans for a hybrid work-from-home model. Salesforce recently announced the death of its 9-to-5 workday, giving employees the option to work from home indefinitely.

Half of workers worldwide are laboring at home, up from 11% before the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study by Willis Towers Watson. Companies expect one-third of employees to continue working remotely after the pandemic, the publication reported.

[Bloomberg News] — Cordilia James