Saturday 9 May 2020

White-Collar Companies Race to Be Last to Return to the Office


THE NEW YORK TIMES: Google, Facebook, Amazon, Capital One and others are extending work-from-home policies to September and sometimes far beyond.

Even as President Trump has said “we have to get our country open again,” much of corporate America is in no rush to return employees to their campuses and skyscrapers. The companies are racing not to be the first back, but the last.

An increasing number of them, which mostly have white-collar employees, have recently extended work-from-home policies far beyond the shelter-in-place timelines mandated by state and local authorities.

Google and Facebook employees were told Thursday that they could stay home until next year. Capital One informed 40,000 workers that they will be out through Labor Day and possibly longer. Amazon is saying October. Nationwide Insurance is moving more aggressively than other firms, shuttering five offices around the country and having its 4,000 employees telecommute permanently. » | David Streitfeld | Friday, May 8, 2020