GM Announces “Work Appropriately” Plan, Will Allow Some Employees To Work From Home

The world came to a halt a little over a year ago as the coronavirus spread across the globe, and changed how people lived and worked.

The auto industry was particularly hard hit as factories were temporarily closed and vehicle development shifted from corporate campuses to the dining room table.

While the worst of the pandemic appears to be behind us, it’s still not business as usual and might never return to what it once was. GM CEO Mary Barra acknowledged this in a LinkedIn post, where she noted some employees have been working remotely for more than a year.

Also Read: GM Embraces Working From Home, Will Hire 3,000 New Employees As Part Of EV Push

The sudden shift to remote working turned out better than expected and it’s part of the reason the company has announced a new “Work Appropriately” plan. It acknowledges that the “future of work is not a one-size-fits-all approach” and offers employees better flexibility as they’re “capable of making smart decisions without overly prescriptive guidance.” Barra went on to compare it to GM’s dress code, which empowers employees to make smart choices.

In particular, some employees and workgroups will be given the option to “work where they can have the greatest impact to achieve company goals.” This means a number of GM’s 155,000 employees will be able to work from home and hold meetings digitally.  Others will only need to come into the office when needed.

This could be a boon for the automaker as they’re adapting their recruitment efforts to include positions that are designated specifically as remote. This means GM could be more attractive to people working on autonomous and electric vehicles in California, but don’t want to move to Michigan. The company alluded to this as they said “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.”

The flexibility is also useful right now as GM president Mark Reuss noted the “pandemic isn’t over” and the situation is different for everyone. He added, “That’s why we’ve determined that the best place for people to work is where they can be the safest, and still be the most effective – wherever they need to be to achieve the best results for their particular jobs.”