Daimler Truck North America notified its Portland office employees it wants them in the office four days a week beginning in February, up from a two-day-a-week requirement now. It’s the latest in a string of major Oregon employers to mandate workers spend more time on-site.
“When we are together, we are more collaborative, more agile, more innovative and we are able to problem-solve in real-time for our customers,” Daimler told workers in a message Thursday. “Together, we strengthen camaraderie, forge relationships and build on the foundation of our amazing company culture.”
Daimler has more than 3,000 employees at its headquarters and truck plants on Swan Island. The new mandate only applies to office personnel, of course, because manufacturing workers already have to be in the factories full-time to build the company’s trucks.
Remote work took off during the pandemic as offices closed to contain the spread of COVID-19. Many workers have resisted returning to the office as the pandemic waned because they welcome the flexibility that working from home provides. But a growing number of employers are seeking to lure workers back, concluding their staffs are more productive when they can meet in person.
The tight labor market enabled workers to resist their employees’ demands because in Oregon, and across the country, there were many more jobs available than unemployed workers. As the labor crunch has begun to ease, though, companies have become more assertive about requiring workers to return to the office.
Nike notified employees last month that it was increasing the time it wants them in the office to four days a week, an increase from three. Oregon’s largest company employs more than 11,000 at its headquarters near Beaverton.
Intel, which is headquartered in California but remains Oregon’s largest corporate employer, moved to a “hybrid-first” work model in 2021. But in May the company said it wanted office workers on site more frequently, seeking a better “balance” between the time people spend working from home and their time on the company’s campuses.
Some companies are moving toward remote or hybrid work schedules permanently, though. That’s especially true among technology companies.
Portland-based Expensify, which had sought to lure workers into its San Francisco office with a luxurious lounge in April, declared last month that experiment had failed.
“The office is dead,” CEO David Barrett wrote on the company’s blog. “Cafes and beaches and airplanes and kitchen tables around the world are the new office, and as someone who works from one of those every day, I couldn’t personally be happier.”
Expensify’s software helps companies manage their employees’ on-the-job expenses. The company said it will seek other ways to encourage collaboration and interaction among employees.
And Barrett indicated the company-sponsored beer garden in downtown Portland will play a key – though unspecified – role in that effort.
— Mike Rogoway | [email protected] | 503-294-7699
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