Many bosses are calling workers back to the office. One big U.S. company told people hired on a remote basis that they need to start coming in.
The financial-services company USAA notified some staff on Monday that they would soon be required to show up in an office three days a week, according to a company email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The policy applied to some employees hired into remote-work arrangements during the pandemic. If someone lives within 60 miles of a company office, they would now be considered a hybrid employee, regardless of whether they were hired into a remote role, the email said.
Many employers have stepped up in-office requirements in recent weeks. The USAA policy stands out in that the company is reclassifying remote workers as hybrid employees. It couldn’t be learned how many employees might be affected by the change. The San Antonio company has employees who work in remote, hybrid or purely in-office roles, spokesman Christian Bove said.
“Our vision is to bring employees together for meaningful interactions and purposeful, in-office connections as a cornerstone of how we develop our employees, collaborate as a team, and innovate to serve our members,” Mr. Bove said.
Some employees have voiced their displeasure about the policy shift internally. Some staffers who were notified of the new policy this week say they were initially told they would be required to report to offices beginning in April, a change they say could complicate commutes or child-care arrangements.
Many employers can legally make changes to work conditions, employment specialists say, particularly if staffers don’t have an employment contract and are classified as at-will employees, able to be terminated at any time.
“Employers have a lot of flexibility in a nonunionized workplace,” said Angela Cornell, a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School and a founding director of the school’s Labor Law Clinic.
USAA, which provides banking services and sells auto, home and life insurance to military personnel and their families, has about 37,000 employees globally and offices in seven cities around the U.S.
Though the job market remains tight, with a historically low 3.4% unemployment rate, a wave of recent corporate layoffs and fears of an economic recession have led some chief executives to reassert their authority and to suggest that the era of working from anywhere has gone too far.
Walt Disney Co. will require workers to come to its offices four days a week beginning in March. Walmart Inc. recently told workers it would close some tech hubs and that employees would need to relocate to other offices to keep their jobs. Starting in May, Amazon.com Inc. is mandating that much of its staff work in offices at least three days a week.
Many companies have settled into a rhythm of three days a week in offices. In 10 major U.S. cities, the average office occupancy rate continues to hover around 50%, according to data from Kastle Systems, a security firm that monitors building access-card swipes.
Some bosses say they have become fed up with remote work, feeling that productivity has slipped. A number of corporate moves in recent weeks, from a change in office policies to office closures, can also spur employees to quit, thinning a staff without resorting to layoffs, human-resources practitioners and corporate advisers say.
Some human-resources chiefs, though, believe much corporate work will continue to be done remotely, with spurts of in-person collaboration, bonding and meetings among colleagues.
“Huge amounts of people are going to be working at home,” said Dean Carter, a former human-resources executive at apparel maker Patagonia, who is now the chief people and purpose officer of education provider Guild Education Inc. “That’s a reality of work.”