General Motors pushed back the introduction of the office-to-office plan after facing stiff resistance from employees to handle the rollout.
The Detroit-based auto giant ranked corporate employees by announcing in a memo last Friday afternoon that they would be required to work onsite at least three days per week later this year.
But GM executives reversed course on Tuesday in an update to employees — saying the plan wouldn’t be implemented until the first quarter of next year at the earliest. The company also apologized for the way the employees came to know about the change.
“We acknowledge that the timing of the message, late Friday afternoon, was unfortunate. It was also unintentional,” GM CEO Mary Barra and other executives said in a memo to employees obtained by The Post.
The memo said that GM officials would not decide which days of the week employees work on-site. The company will collect feedback from employees and provide additional information about the plan.
Barra said the company opted to make a company-wide announcement last Friday only after “premature information was shared across parts of the organization.”
Barra added in the memo, “Our plan was always, and still is, to collaboratively design solutions that best balance the needs of the enterprise with the needs of each of you.” “The solution would involve more regular, in-person attendance.”
GM employees took to online message boards to vent their frustration, including Blind, an anonymous corporate forum that verifies employees using their professional email accounts.
One worker wrote “General Motors is doomed” in response to the policy.
“Many people were already on the verge of quitting due to low pay and now it st,” worker wroteAdding, “They will never retain the young talent.”
“Anybody this interesting last month wfh is the new standard and now we’re forced to go back without a head? They’re doing a good job if they’re trying to kick us out,” GM leaders say. ” Another worker wrote,
employees told Detroit Free Press They were surprised when GM’s policy change was first unveiled last Friday.
“You can probably imagine what the general mood is like,” one GM salaried employee told the outlet. “The company has been talking a good game about work since it all started, and we were completely blindsided by the news.”
GM spokeswoman Maria Renal confirmed the change in return time from office in a statement to the Post.
“We understand that our employees have concerns, and are committed to maintaining the flexibility to ensure they can attend to individual commitments,” Renal said. “As we implement this change, we are listening to employee feedback and will incorporate it into our plan.
“We will continue to share details with employees as plans strengthen in the coming weeks,” Renal said.
GM’s careers website still touts the company’s commitment to a “work fair” policy in which employees have the option of working from home depending on their circumstances. That policy was initially unveiled in April 2021 and allowed workers and managers to collectively decide where they should work in a given week.
“Depending on the nature of their work, our employees have the flexibility to work where they can achieve their goals and have the greatest impact for their personal success.” the site says.
GM isn’t the only company facing resistance when attempting to bring employees back into the office.
as the post pointed outCredit Karma employees scrapped plans to return to work after a shooting near the company’s Oakland office last week.