Ford: 30,000 can still work at home after the pandemic

Policy will apply mostly to salaried office staff, not factory workers.

Ford told employees they can continue to work from home, allowing more than 30,000 to use the office only when they need to, even after the pandemic is over.

The“flexible hybrid work model” unveiled Wednesday lets employees choose to stay home for “heads- down work,” while coming to the office for meetings and team- building activities. The system will debut as soon as July and apply mostly to salaried office staff, not factory workers.

Kiersten Robinson, Ford’ s human resources chief, announced the move in a global town- hall meeting with employees. It will apply first in North America.

Like many employers, large and small, Ford is grappling with the reality that workers have grown to appreciate not commuting every day and working among f amily and pets. Half of the world’s workers now do so from home, up from 11% prior to the COVID- 19 pandemic, according to a global study of employers by Willis Towers Watson, a risk- management and human- resources firm. Even after the health crisis ends, companies expect one- third of global employees to continue to work remotely.

In a survey last summer, 95% of Ford’s global nonproduction staff said they wanted to maint ain a mix of home and office work after the pandemic. The Dearborn, Michigan- based company finished 2020 with about 186,000 employees.

Ford will have to carefully manage perceptions since it’s giving flexibility to some employees and not to others.

The idea of white- collar employees l ogging on safely at home while lower- paid employees risk their health to show up in person has been an added source of resentment in an already stratified U. S. economy.

BLOOMBERG 2017 Ford Motor Co., whose headquarters are in Dearborn, Michigan, finished 2020 with about 186,000 employees. It will let more than 30,000 use the office only when they need to, even after the pandemic ends.