GM is joining the list of companies, including its biggest competitor Ford, in embracing remote work.
The pandemic has upended many industries, with remote work becoming an important element in keeping many businesses operational during lockdowns and quarantine. Remote work has been so successful that many in the tech industry have opted to embrace remote and hybrid work permanently. Companies outside the tech industries have started doing the same, with Ford making headlines in March with its decision to allow 30,000 employees to work from home permanently.
GM has now joined that growing list of companies, with its “Work Appropriately” approach, unveiled by CEO Mary Barra in a LinkedIn blog post.
The learnings and successes of the last year led us to introduce how we will manage the future of work at GM, called “Work Appropriately.” This means that where the work permits, employees have the flexibility to work where they can have the greatest impact on achieving our goals. The notion behind this approach – that our employees are capable of making smart decisions without overly prescriptive guidance – is the same notion behind our dress code, “Dress Appropriately.”
Barra frames the decision in the context of attracting top talent. Numerous studies have shown that remote and flexible work options have become so important to many employees, that 29% would rather quit their jobs than go back to the office. More than 50% would be willing to trade vacation days for the ability to continue working remotely.
GM recognizes the importance of flexible work options in the context of attracting the top talent needed for it to reach its long-term goals.
Achieving our all-electric future will require attracting and retaining top talent, and we are excited to focus our employee engagement and hiring on the work, and not the where in many cases. We’re already adapting our recruitment efforts to include hiring positions that are designated specifically as remote.
GM’s decision, along with Ford’s, will put further pressure on Toyota and other manufacturers to follow suit.