Several companies in the US are asking their employees to report to work with easing pandemic restrictions. USAA, a financial services company based in the US, informed its remote staff to prepare for attending the office three days a week.
Hybrid employees
In today’s latest USA news, the employees, who were recruited by USAA to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, need to attend the office. According to a communiqué shared in an email, the employees residing within 60 miles of its office will be treated as hybrid employees. In recent weeks, several firms have asked their employees to report to their offices.
In a policy document released by the USAA, the company has reclassified all the remote employees as hybrid employees. According to the spokesman for USAA, Christian Bove, the company has employees in three categories: purely in-office roles, hybrid roles, and remote work. It is unclear how many employees are in hybrid mode.
A new policy shift forces employees to make childcare arrangements
Mr. Bove went on to say that the company’s vision is to ensure connections between the employees in the office and develop them into teams for a purposeful and meaningful community to serve the members. Some employees, who were notified of a policy change, have expressed displeasure about the new internal policy shift. According to the communication, employees are to report to the office beginning in April 2023. The new change forces employees to make childcare arrangements. They also face difficulties in commuting to the office.
According to employment specialists, employers are allowed to make changes to the working conditions of employees. It is legally valid. Employers have the liberty to terminate employees at any time if they don’t have an employment contract with the company. A clinical professor of law, Angela Cornell, who works at Cornell Law School, said employers have flexibility in changing the working conditions or removing them in a non-unionized environment.
USAA currently has 37,000 employees working in its offices across the world and seven cities in the US. The company is engaged in offering life insurance policies to defense personnel and their families. It also sells home and auto insurance services. The company also offers banking services.
The era of working from anywhere ends
The unemployment rate in the US is at a historic low of 3.4%. However, some CEOs have resorted to calling the employees to work in the office amid fears of an imminent recession and a wave of layoffs by corporate. It suggests that the era of working from home or anywhere has come to an end.
According to today’s BNN News, the workers of Walt Disney Co. need to attend the office four days a week beginning March 2023. In a recent communiqué, Walmart instructed its employees to prepare for relocation as it decided to shut down some tech hubs. E-commerce giant, Amazon.com told its staff to report to the office at least three days a week beginning in May 2023.
Some bosses said productivity has suffered because of the work-from-home option. Several companies in the US have told their employees to work in the office three days a week. The average attendance in the offices in ten cities across the US hovers at 50%.
