Uber to Ask Employees to Return to Work But Only Half of the Time

As coronavirus eases up and many states head back to normalcy not seen in over a year, ride hailing giant Uber is asking employees to return to work.

The interesting thing to note however is that the employees are only being asked to come back to the office 50% of the time.

This means Uber employees can split up their time between the office and elsewhere however they choose wrote Uber’s chief people officer, Nikki Krishnamurthy, in a blog post.

Essentially this could mean one week on, one week off, or three days one week and two days the next week. It’s a slightly different model than many companies have been choosing, where they ask employees to come in a set number of days each week.

Employees will also have more flexibility on their preferred office location and are still allowed to work from home until Sept. 13, barring a worsening of Covid.

The company announced the hybrid return-to work model for its employees on Tuesday and said that the new model will likely start this fall.

“Before then, our team will be able to apply for remote work or potential office changes. It’s our goal to have all remote work/location transfers processed by September,” a spokesperson said to CNBC.

Uber is also telling employees they can apply to become fully remote.

“We’ll also host periodic in-person meetings once our offices reopen so remote employees have the chance to meet and collaborate with their teammates face to face and benefit from in-person interaction and collaboration,” Krishnamurthy added.

In regard to Covid restrictions, the spokesperson said Uber is following Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards.

Those employees who attest to being fully vaccinated no longer need to wear a mask or social distance as they return, and the company is encouraging employees to get vaccinated.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.