Ford Delays Return To Office For 30,000 Workers Due To COVID Concerns

(CNN) — Ford Motor Company is pushing its return-to-office date to March over new COVID-19 concerns, the company said Monday.

Assembly line workers returned to work in May 2020, but many offices continued to work remotely due to the pandemic. Office workers were getting ready to head back to the office next month, but the new omicron variant has shifted the company’s plans.

“The state of COVID-19 virus remains fluid, and despite the success of our ongoing safety protocols and increased vaccination rates, we are shifting the start date of the hybrid work model to March,” said Ford spokesperson Dan Barbossa.

This decision will affect roughly 30,000 employees.

“We will begin with a pilot phase for select employees in February and in March, we will expand it so all non-site dependent team members can begin working flexibly between Ford campuses and remote options,” Barbossa said.

Ford became the first for the Big Three US automakers to mandate vaccines for most of its 32,000 US salaried employees. Those workers have until December 8 to be fully vaccinated.

Last week, Google moved its return-to-office date from January further into 2022.

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