Ford made the announcement one year after it sent workers home to wait out the pandemic.Credit:AP
Starting in July,Ford employees will be able to return to the office for assignments that require face-to-face interaction,such as group projects and meetings,and remain home for more independent work. The goal is to personalise work schedules to best suit employees’ needs,Dubensky said. Some 30,000 employees in southeast Michigan will have the option to stick with remote work,with flexible hours approved by their managers,Dubensky said.
“The nature of work drives whether or not you can adopt this model. There are certain jobs that are place-dependent,you need to be in the physical space to do the job,” Dubensky said. “Having the flexibility to choose how you work is pretty powerful. ... It’s up to the employee to have dialogue and discussion with their people leader to determine what works best.”
Dubensky said the company has been monitoring how employees fare with remote work for more than six months. It distributed surveys and formed a think tank to map out the future of work. A June 2020 company survey found that 95 per cent of Ford’s global employees would prefer a mix in-person and remote work after the pandemic,and that many of them felt more productive and were happier working from home.
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Ford will not require workers to get a coronavirus shot before returning to the office,Dubensky said,but will provide educational materials to employees about the coronavirus vaccine. It will continue requiring temperature checks and coronavirus symptom surveys of employees at its facilities,conduct contact tracing and adhere to cleaning protocols until coronavirus infections are under control.
The move is another sign of how the pandemic has transformed the workplace,as corporations have re-evaluated work flows,wellness resources,wages and sick leave compensation. Wednesday’s announcement could motivate other companies to extend their work-from-home policies,post-pandemic. Employees across industries have embraced the option for allowing them a better work-life balance,cutting their commute times,and allowing them more flexibility for caretaking.
Many employers have been waiting for vaccinations to become more widespread before attempting to bring their workforces back to the office. But there’s no federal guidance for how corporations should manage the social,economic and public health issues brought on by the pandemic,and decisions up to this point have been tentative.