Petition asks company to ‘adopt a policy that respects and prioritises the well-being and preferences of its employees’
The push for office return across the world is extending until 2025, but new reports are indicating that resistance against such policies persists in some workplaces.
Communications firm WPP is facing a pushback from employees, according to separate reports.
The firm told its employees this week that they will need to return to the office four days a week starting April, Media Week reported. It is expected to impact more than 100,000 employees under the WPP umbrella worldwide.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, told employees in an internal memo that the move stems from stronger employee engagement that they gathered from higher office attendance.
Benefits also include improved client survey scores and better financial performance, according to the CEO.
"For all these reasons, spending more time together is important to all of us, and we are making a change to help that happen," Read said, as quoted by Media Week.
But in response, WPP employees launched a change.org petition demanding WPP to revoke its four-day office return mandate.
"We call on Mark Read and the decision-making body at WPP to reconsider this mandate and adopt a policy that respects and prioritises the well-being and preferences of its employees," the petition read.
It has received more than 14,000 verified signatures as of Wednesday. According to the petition, the mental and social effects on employees due to such "rigid work regimes" can be extensive.
"It's time to move towards a future of work that's flexible, mindful, inclusive, and evidence-based," it said.
Toyota is among the latest organisations that ordered employees to return onsite, according to a Bloomberg report.
The automotive manufacturer told salaried employees in North America that they need to return to the office from Monday to Thursday starting September, with Fridays as designated work-from-home days.
"A more in-person work environment will help us work efficiently and effectively together and facilitate more mentoring and growth opportunities – ultimately strengthening our culture and team effectiveness," Toyota wrote in the memo that was confirmed to Bloomberg.
It follows the announcements made by other major organisations, such as Amazon and Dell, effectively ending fully remote work policies that became popular during the pandemic.
At Amazon, employees have expressed strong dissatisfaction over the announcement.
JPMorgan told employees in a memo last week that it is ending its hybrid work policy and will be asking staff to return onsite five days a week around March, The National News Desk reported.
"We are now a few years out of the pandemic and have had the time to evaluate the benefits and challenges of remote and hybrid working," the memo said, as quoted by the TNND. "We feel that now is the right time to solidify our full-time in-office approach."
But the announcement was met with negative comments from employees on the company's intranet site, according to Reuters.
The situation prompted the company to lock the announcement page, but not before receiving over 300 comments on the policy, where some talked about issues such as increased commuting, childcare costs, as well as mental health concerns.
