Employers Trying New Ways To Push Workers Back To The Office
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Here's your money briefing for Thursday, April 27th. I'm Mohsen Ali for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for J.R. Whalen. From free pizza and bagels to live in-office entertainment, bosses are trying many different tactics to lure employees back to the office. But some companies now are writing terse memos, office policy reminders, or even threatening termination.
Right now, though, the power dynamics between employees and bosses are beginning to shift. And as big companies do layoffs, a number of CEOs and other executives now feel more emboldened to push for changes that they've wanted for months now.
We'll talk to WSJ reporter Chip Cutter, who covers workplace management and leadership issues after the break.
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Until recently, many executives had been hesitant to push too hard for in-office attendance, fearing workers could quit in a hot hiring market. But one law firm whose clients include some of Wall Street's biggest banks and other companies has told its staffers working fewer than the required in-office days could lead to lower bonuses. I'm joined by Chip Cutter, who's been looking into this for us. Chip, which companies are trying a different approach and what are they doing to get staffers back into the office?
What are employers trying to do to lure workers back to the office?
Yeah, so it's the white shoe law firm Davis Polk. And it's told staffers that those who don't adhere to its policy to be in the office three days a week could see their bonuses affected. And this is notable because we've seen a number of companies try recently to get more people back in the office. And they've done everything from holding special in-office events. Some have brought in live music even. Many managers have sent sort of increasingly threatening memos to people. But until now, not many companies have actually said that they're going to tie pay to in-office attendance. And so I think that's why this is drawing some attention. For example, some companies like JPMorgan Chase have sent memos to staff in recent weeks telling them that those on hybrid schedules would be expected to follow them.
We've also seen a number of prominent employers, including Disney, step up in-office requirements to four days a week. You know, during a pandemic, we saw a number of employers say that people needed to be in two or three days a week. increasingly we're seeing big companies say, really needs to be four. Some cases, some companies are saying five days a week. And so I think all of this comes at an interesting moment because for so much of the pandemic, employers were really, really concerned that it was hard to hire and that it was hard to keep people. Right now, though, the power dynamics between employees and bosses are beginning to shift. And as big companies do layoffs, a number of CEOs and other executives now feel more emboldened to push for changes that they've wanted for months now.
So post-pandemic, workers are adjusting to these new hybrid work schedules. In your reporting, you found that offices remain kind of empty, especially on Mondays and Fridays.
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