Stellantis will bring employees back to the office and has repealed its remote work policy. The move occurred after a profit warning prompted a shake-up of the automaker’s top management.
The Jeep and Fiat maker now wants employees to be in the office three days a week on average — a big change from its previous policy of 70% remote work. Stellantis will renovate workspaces to welcome back employees, human resources director Xavier Chereau said in an interview at the Paris auto show.
“We need to be pragmatic and we are recalibrating,” Chereau said. “If there’s a complicated project that needs attention, then it’ll be in the office all week.”
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Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares had championed remote working following the Covid lockdown and so drastically reduced office space and sold real estate assets to cut costs. Unions have criticized the intensity of the measure, saying workers are often encouraged to stay away as much as possible.
Investors and analysts have put the CEO’s strategy under scrutiny after weak sales, quality issues and delays in the launch of key new models culminated in a major earnings warning last month. Tavares has struck a defiant tone since then, and has promised fixes in the key U.S. market as well as firing executives including his chief financial officer.
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Earlier this year, Stellantis had already asked automotive engineers to return to the office more frequently. The company is now broadening the scope to include all research and development teams and several other functions, Chereau said.
Unions complain of continued efforts to cut positions in high-cost countries such as France, a move they say has undermined morale and led to the loss of key talent. Last month, Stellantis invited employees to Poissy to meet recruiters from companies including French dealership Engie and aircraft equipment maker Safran.
Still, Chereau said the automaker’s main goal is not to lay off workers, but to retrain them to transition to electric cars. The company will spend $157 million this year to retrain employees.
