Boeing shifts policy, wants all employees back in the office full time (Seattle: home)

[homesinseattle]

“In October, Boeing Commercial Airplanes boss Stan Deal, eager to leave the COVID-19 pandemic behind, instructed his managers to get all employees back in the office full time, five days a week.

While no deadline has been set, managers have been working since then with their teams to implement the policy and get everyone back to pre-COVID working norms.

One group has been told they will be full time in the office when they return to work after the holiday break.

“The baseline expectation is that almost all employees will be in the office five days a week,” said a Boeing spokesperson.

Article link here: https://www.seattletimes.com/busines...ice-full-time/

“As we continue to hire new employees and continue our airplane development work, it’s beneficial to have teams in the office,” the spokesperson said. “Often there’s no substitute for face-to-face collaboration and communication.”

With that, as Boeing engineers and business operations staff lose the perk of days without commutes and an easier work-life balance, a thin silver lining of the dark pandemic era is dissolving.

With COVID fears fading, it’s a scenario playing out at many companies.

Amazon and Microsoft are each trying to implement a level of return-to-office against considerable opposition from some employees. Amazon has mandated a minimum of three days a week. Airbus Americas has adopted a hybrid work policy, a spokesperson said, only requiring employees to come into the office three days a week when business circumstances allow.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes is taking a harder line, with employees now facing a complete return to the standard 40 hours in the office.

It’s a sharp turnaround for Boeing. During the pandemic, while factory workers had no option to work from home, employees who could were encouraged to work remotely.

Then as the pandemic dissipated over the past two years, Boeing shifted to hybrid work, asking employees to come into the office some days each week, with considerable flexibility.

In 2021 — as Boeing downsized due to the steep downturn during the pandemic by selling off its Seattle-area headquarters building at the former site of the Longacres racetrack in Renton and multiple other offices throughout the Puget Sound region — Boeing Vice President Conrad Chun said the new realities of virtual working meant all that office space wasn’t needed”.

[rjshae]

Get ready for more traffic on the roads...

[Transmition]

I've been watching the Boeing engineering job openings and haven't even seen one that stated hybrid working for the last six months, all have been 100% in the office. I was considering some of them, but losing all that time and energy to commuting means they'd have to pay quite a bit more than what I currently earn.

[Hemlock140]

The Depending on the job, Boeing "in the office" could mean Everett, Auburn, or Renton. Some people even have to work at different locations at different times. The traffic on I5 through Everett is horrible already, this will make it worse there and also on 2 to Snohomish/Lake Stevens. Fortunately I wouldn't go that way during the week, unfortunately it's not that much better on the weekends.

My employer in Seattle is cracking down on dedicated work space. Anyone who doesn't work at least 1/2 time in the office loses their desk, and will have to use a hot desk when they come in. Those of us with an actual office may keep it if there is a legitimate reason such as a manager with direct reports needing privacy, or needing files of records to do your work.

[Transmition]

There have been quite a few jobs that were based in Renton but had up to two days per week in Everett. That's forcing a pretty crappy commute on anyone who doesn't live midway between the two, they are about an hour apart at the best of times.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

A lot of employees took advantage of work from home to move to different areas that were either cheaper or more pleasant places to live, without even a passing thought to the possibility that everyone would be called back into the office. Those people now have a serious problem since they are no longer living anywhere near commuting distance from work.

Rents might possibly being going up in the Seattle area as all of those employees try to move back to Seattle.

[mayfair]

The thing is, even if Boeing offers hybrid, there's no guarantee you'll keep any WFH benefits. They have the right to pull people back to the office any time if they choose. This is how they operate.