Siemens allowing ‘mobile working’ permanently for many workers
Industrial conglomerate Siemens is allowing more than 100,000 of its employees to work away from the office for two or three days a week on a permanent basis.
The Munich-based company said the coronavirus crisis has “shown that working independently of a fixed location offers many advantages and is possible on a much wider scale than originally thought.” It said that surveys of Siemens employees worldwide had shown a desire for greater flexibility.
Read: Employers moving to remote work to help ‘flatten the coronavirus curve’
The new arrangement applies to more than 140,000 employees at more than 125 locations in 43 countries and takes effect immediately, the company added. It said its “mobile working” concept doesn’t necessarily mean working from home. It said employees should, in consultation with supervisors, “choose the work locations where they’re most productive.” That could include co-working spaces, for example.
Siemens said the new approach will be tailored to local legal requirements, the demands of specific jobs and individual preferences.
The employer joins other companies, such as Shopify Inc., Slack and Twitter Inc. that have made similar announcements in the past few weeks.
Read: Remote working, distributed workforces could be part of new normal post-coronavirus