Ford To Offer Flexible Work Arrangements

Ford Motor’s will provide the majority of its 86,000 employees who have not returned to the workplace yet the opportunity to sit to a hybrid work schedule.

The car manufacturer informed staff this week that after a year of most working from home, managers will work with employees to determine how much they can continue to work remotely depending on their responsibilities.

“The nature of the work we do really is going to be a guiding element,” said Kiersten Robinson, chief people and employee experiences officer at Ford. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last 12 months, it is that a lot of our assumptions around work and what employees need has shifted.”

According to a report from the Conference Board, around 40% of employers that initially transitioned to remote working arrangements at the beginning of the pandemic plan to bring employees back as early as this month.

However, most will likely make this voluntary for some, mandatory for others or adopt a hybrid arrangement.

Around 100,000 of Ford’s employees who are primarily in manufacturing roles have already returned to work. The company will still require workers to wear masks and practice distancing until at least the end of 2021, according to Robinson.

Additionally, while the company is not mandating that employees get vaccinated, it expects the majority to do so and is offering resources for those who have yet to decide whether they want to.