DETROIT – Most of the approximately 86,000 global Ford Motor employees who have not yet returned to work should start doing so this summer through a new hybrid work schedule that gives employees more flexibility when it comes to work. report to the office.
The carmaker briefed staff on its plans on Wednesday morning, a year after many of the company’s unproductive employees began working remotely to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
A return to higher employment is not expected before July, according to Kiersten Robinson, Ford chief and responsible for employee experience. She said how much an employee will be able to work remotely, depending on his or her job responsibilities, as well as discussions with managers.
“The nature of the work we do will really be a guiding element,” Robinson told CNBC. “If we’ve learned one thing in the last 12 months, it’s that many of our work-related assumptions and what employees need have changed.”
About 40 percent of employers who moved to remote work at the start of the coronavirus pandemic plan to have workers return to office as early as this month, according to a recent Conference Board report. Most can do this voluntarily for some and mandatory for others, the think tank found – or they can adopt some sort of flexible weekly schedule, such as Ford.
About 100,000 of Ford’s 186,000 employees, mostly in the manufacturing industry, have already returned to work. Work schedules are not expected to change much, if any, for workers who have to be in a particular unit to perform their duties.
Ford’s biggest rival, General Motors, expects to start bringing in remote employees in June or July, according to company spokesman David Caldwell. The company did not announce a plan for employees, but Caldwell said it “will probably be more flexible” based on a person’s responsibilities.
Vaccinations
Ford’s decision followed several rounds of employee surveys over the past year regarding a return to work, according to Robinson. Questions included preferences about working remotely and whether employees planned to get vaccinated.
“We’ve done a lot of work on the lessons learned over the last 12 months and the impact on how we think about the evolution of Ford’s work,” she said. She said the carmaker checks its employees almost every week.
Most Ford employees are expected to be vaccinated, Robinson said. The company does not mandate it, but provides information and resources to those who have not yet decided.
Office changes
The company expects to continue to require employees to wear masks and practice social distancing for at least the rest of this year, Robinson said.
Such practices, as well as flexibility in where and when employees can work, are not rigid, she said. Instead, she said the company will continue to learn and adapt to the wishes of employees, as well as what health officials recommend.
“We do not call this ‘the future of work’, we intentionally call it ‘evolution’, because we will continue to learn as we go and use these teachings to adapt our practices and policies around flexible work, as well as other areas,” he said. said Robinson.
Once employees return to work, Robinson said, the experience for many will be different. Instead of going “somewhat mindless” every day, it will rely on events such as meetings, presentations or projects that require more collaboration than others.
Ford offered alternative work schedules, such as 10-hour days four times a week, instead of the traditional five-day work week, but Robinson said the take-up rate for such programs was low. It’s one of many things the company will monitor about its new plans, she said.