IBM has reportedly enacted a mass return-to-office policy, mandating US sales staff to work at least three days a week at a client site, flagship office or sales hub.
The news comes just days after the company told its US Cloud employees to return to “strategic” locations (company offices) on similar three-day-per-week terms.
In the case of IBM’s US Cloud workers, they’ve been given until July 1 to adhere to the new policy. Workers needing to relocate have been cut a little more slack, with until October 1 to find a new home. It’s unclear when the company’s sales staff will need to move by.
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IBM workers given renewed RTO mandate
On the face of it, IBM’s return-to-office policy is on the nicer side for those in favor of remote and hybrid working.
Three days has long been the average in a post-pandemic world, however many of IBM’s fellow tech giants, including Amazon, have enacted full-time five-day policies, marking an end to remote working altogether.
Across the US, IBM has five flagship offices in New York, Raleigh, Washington DC and San Francisco. The fifth, in Austin, will be open by next year.
A further eight sales hubs in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle are also available for in-person work.
According to an internal memo by Adam Lawrence seen by The Register, Dallas-based Digital Sales workers will be relocated to the new Austin office when it opens in 2026.
Lawrence billed the RTO move as a “return to client initiative,” suggesting that sales staff need to be closer to clients to secure sales.
Casually referred to as an initialism for ‘I’ve Been Moved’, IBM has a long history of relocating workers, however positions have been relatively stable at the company in the grand scheme of things.
Apart from around 1,000 layoffs in August 2024 relating to the closure of a China R&D department, IBM’s only other big job cut was in January 2023, when 3,900 lost their jobs. Only a handful of much smaller reductions have followed since then.
Via The Register