After Stopping Vehicle Production and Closing Factories in Brazil, Ford Delays Return of 30,000 Employees to Work

Not Only The Vehicle Manufacturing Multinational Ford, But Also Google, General Motors, And Stellantis Delay The Return Of Workers To Their Factories And Offices

The Ford Motor is once again delaying a hybrid return-to-work plan for salaried employees until March, amid concerns over rising COVID-19 cases in its home state of Michigan and uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant.

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The automaker informed workers on Monday that it plans to launch a pilot phase for selected employees in February and March, followed by a complete rollout of the program that was initially announced in March 2021. Ford had previously stated that it would not return to work under a hybrid working model before January, which had already been postponed at least twice before.

Ford Decision Will Affect 30,000 Workers

“The state of the COVID-19 virus remains fluid, and despite the success of our ongoing safety protocols and the increasing vaccination rates, we are changing the start date of the hybrid work model to March,” the company said in a statement emailed to employees.

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This decision will affect about 30,000 workers. About 130,000 of Ford’s 184,000 employees, mostly in manufacturing, have already returned to work.

Another 56,000 employees of the company in the U.S., represented by the United Auto Workers union began returning to work in May 2020, after automakers in Detroit were forced to close factories for several weeks at the beginning of the pandemic.

Ford’s hybrid work program is a combination of on-site and remote work for employees whose jobs do not require them to be in a physical facility.

Ford became the first of the Big Three U.S. automakers to require vaccinations for most of its 32,000 U.S. salaried employees. These workers have until December 8 to be fully vaccinated.

Google Also Changed Its Return Date To The Office For 2022

The Ford announcement comes days after Google changed its return date to the office for 2022, stating it would wait until the new year to assess when U.S. offices might safely return to a “stable, long-term work environment.”

Companies are beginning to consider changes to their return-to-office plans and work models in general for employees due to the emergence of the new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron. Businesses are struggling to understand how the variant could impact their operations and profits, taking a wait-and-see approach as they assess its spread and potential harm.

General Motors Has Also Not Set A Return Date For Workers In Its Factories

General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Monday that it had not yet established a formal return date to the workplace for salaried employees. In April, it implemented “Work Appropriately,” a plan under which “teams have the flexibility to work where they can have the most impact.”

The largest automaker in the U.S. stated that “in light of the Omicron variant, we are closely monitoring the situation and continue to engage with various internal and external stakeholders.” GM has yet to determine vaccine requirements for its salaried employees.

Stellantis NV (STLA.MI), which is requiring all of its 14,000 non-union salaried employees in the U.S. to be fully vaccinated by January 5, said on Monday that the company was moving “to a flexible and agile work environment that allows our team to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead of us.” Dubbed the “New Era of Agility” pilot program for North America, it is expected to start in early 2022.

Stellantis plans to implement a hybrid work model, with employees spending about 70% of their time working remotely and 30% in the office.