Bosses want to get more workers to come back to work. A rash of hiring freezes and a broadside from the world's richest person may have made it simpler.
For more than two years, millions of white-collar workers at companies from Apple Inc. to American Express Co. have grown accustomed to greater flexibility in where and when they work, and a red-hot labor market has allowed them to push back on pleas from CEOs to return to their pre Fears of a recession have clouded companies' outlooks, prompting some to curtail hiring or wage hikes while others to slash jobs, showing early signs of a leveling playing field between employees and employers.
Musk is the latest figurehead of the return-to-office movement and his stance against remote work could encourage others to do the same. According to a survey by Nationwide, half of business owners think they'll be in-person all the time in a year. The developments highlight debates raging in boardrooms around the globe about how this new era of hybrid work will play out, and raise concerns that some firms might use the economic jitters as an excuse to dismiss those workers who refuse to return to the office.
Andrew Challenger is senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement and executive coaching firm. We are starting to see an increase in the number of layoffs. It's possible that the demand to be in the office is a way to cut those workers. Employers may start making similar demands even if a recession does not happen.
According to recent employment data, hiring continued at a healthy pace in May, and big employers like International Business Machines say they haven't seen any signs of a slowdown. 6,200 union jobs will be created by Ford's expansion in three Midwestern US states. There were almost two jobs for every unemployed person in April. Many companies have decided not to impose return-to-office mandates and others have loosened their policies recently.
Apple backpedaled from a plan to have workers in three days a week after some of them complained. Wall Street bosses are no longer demanding things. About 40% of the workforce at JP Morgan Chase will operate in a hybrid model going forward, and Credit Suisse Group AG boss Thomas Gottstein doesn't think banks will ever return to working full time from the office
People have spent more than two years proving they can be productive working from home, according to Brian Elliott, who leads an ongoing survey of more than 10,000 white-collar workers. Work-life balance has plummeted as companies mandate employees back into the office five days a week. Three times as many people will be looking for a new job if they are dissatisfied with their level of flexibility.
When one of Apple's top machine-learning experts left the company last month over its return-to-office policy, Apple learned the hard way. In May, there were more layoffs at tech firms than in the first four months of the year. Some firms are letting people go and others are trying to survive.
The pink slips in Silicon Valley went to sectors like retail and automotive, which both lost jobs. Some experts don't think they'll be widespread. AnnElizabeth Konkel is an economist at Indeed.com. I think of it as a rumble, but not a full-on storm.
The rumblings continue to get louder. Corporate earnings are under threat from soaring inflation and supply-chain disruptions, while higher wages and raw-material costs have trimmed profit margins. Deere & Co., Gap Inc., Walmart Inc., and Target Corp have all told investors to expect a rougher ride this year. The S&P 500 dipped into a bear market last month. Some shareholders are worried that rate hikes may cause the economy to go into a recession.
CEOs who blindly follow Musk's office mandate could get a harsh lesson in the new rules of work if the environment becomes more unstable. More than 50,000 workers in 44 countries would prefer to work in person all the time, according to a survey. Two-thirds of fully remote workers worry about missing out on career development opportunities, according to a study by the accounting firm.
Experts predict a more balanced hiring environment as companies figure out what works best for them.
There are signs that we are moving to a more normal market with workers coming in one door and leaving the other.
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