Ford Motor Co. will let thousands of staff continue working from home - even after the coronavirus pandemic.
The company is one of the first in the motor-vehicle industry to do this.
Ford called the plan a "hybrid work model" with flexible hours approved by managers that will allow some 30,000 employees to work remotely for "heads-down work" and report to offices for meetings and projects when face-to-face action is needed, according to Bloomberg News.
It will apply first in North America, Kiersten Robinson, Ford's human resources director, said.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based carmaker's plan is a signal that COVID-19 has hastened a cultural repositioning in American jobs by removing any negative perception around remote work and motivating employees to adopt the technology that enables it.
According to Bloomberg, around half of the world's workforce now works from home - rising from 11% before the health crisis, a global study of human-resources agency Willis Towers Watson, shows. After the pandemic is over, companies anticipate a third of the world's workers will continue to work remotely.
A recent survey showed 95% of Ford's global nonproduction workers favors a mix of home and office work.
"Companies are seeing that and saying, 'If we can accommodate that, we will," John Bremen, managing chief at Willis Towers Watson, said.
A report this week by Indeed, an employment website, shows postings for jobs that mention "remote work" have increased twofold since the pandemic broke out.
These types of job postings are still on the rise even while immunizations are being fast-tracked and the pace of new confirmed COVID-19 infections is slowing.
