Stanley Black & Decker going ‘hybrid’
Tool giant shifting many workers to remote duty as COVID-19 pandemic reshapes office of future
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. — the New Britain-based tool and equipment storage giant — is shifting two-thirds of its office employees in Connecticut to either work remotely full-time or split time between the home and office, the latest sign the traditional workplace is being reshaped significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a challenging period, and it has propelled the concept that working virtually and providing a more flexible work environment can work, both for the employees and the company,” Shannon L. Lapierre, the manufacturer’s chief communications officer, said Monday.
In Connecticut, Stanley Black & Decker employs about 2,000, with half working in offices, the other half in manufacturing and distribution.
Stanley Black & Decker joins a growing list of companies either headquartered in Connecticut or with significant operations in the state to make similar decisions.
Pratt & Whitney, a unit of Raytheon Technologies in Waltham, Mass. said last month
that hundreds of office workers at the jet engine maker’s headquarters in East Hartford would either work from home permanently or split time between home and office.
In downtown Hartford, insurance giant Travelers Cos. is bringing thousands of workers back to its offices in the city, but it is offering the opportunity to work from home up to two days a week.
Across Stanley Black & Decker’s global workforce of 56,000, about half are office workers that would be affected by the change.
Lapierre said the timing on Stanley Black & Decker’s plans in Connecticut will depend on the completion of renovations at its 130,000-square-foot New Britain headquarters. The renovations are designed to accommodate a hybrid working environment. The course of the pandemic also will play a critical role, she said.
The renovations are expected to be on-going through the end of year, Lapierre said.
Investments are being made in technology to ensure smooth meetings when there is a combination of in-person and virtual participants.
Space is being reconfigured to accommodate meetings and carve out places for employees to meet in smaller groups. In addition, “hoteling” is part of the approach, giving hybrid workers a desk to work at when they are in the office but not one that is assigned to them, Lapierre said.
“We see the office as more for planning,” Lapierre said. “Certainly, we need some people to be on-site to do their jobs. But for those who [don’t always] need to come to office, it will be largely around planning and work sessions.”
The reshaping of the workplace at Stanley Black & Decker was largely drawn from employee surveys in May of this year and the previous May. Most said they were as productive at home, if not more. Some, Lapierre said, did miss in-person interaction with colleagues. Employees with young children, however, appreciated the flexibility to work remotely because child care has been difficult to find.
Lapierre said Stanley Black & Decker also is taking in account office employees who do not have a home that is suitable to remote work, allowing them to work in the office.
Lapierre said the third of the workforce coming back to the office fulltime, including engineers who test products, have pretty much done so. The company does not see a rush to bring hybrid workers back because the delta variant of the coronavirus has thrown new uncertainty into the pandemic.
Even with the majority of office employees working from for nearly 18 months, the company has turned in strong growth, Lapierre said.
“We believe being able to balance our employees needs has enabled us to achieve those results in a difficult period,” Lapierre said.