Advertising giant WPP has informed its employees that they will have to return to the office for at least four days a week starting in April.
More than 100,000 staff received a memo yesterday (7 January) from chief executive Mark Read, saying that the company’s “success still relies on the fundamentals of human connection, creativity and relationships”.
“We do our best work when we are together in person,” he added.
Previously, agencies owned by WPP were allowed to set their own hybrid working policies while staff at the group’s headquarters were asked to be in the office three days a week.
Return to office
UK employers seek more in-office working to boost engagement
WPP is now one of the largest global employers to mandate staff to return to the office for the majority of the week.
In September, Amazon informed staff they must return to the office full time from this month, and BT announced a “three together, two wherever” policy in December, where data from passcards is shared with managers to keep track of compliance.
A group of workers at Amazon’s subsidiary Amazon Web Services subsidiary wrote to their CEO pushing for a reversal of the return-to-work mandate, claiming the decision was “non-data-driven” and “misrepresented the realities of working at Amazon”.
Read told employees that higher levels of office attendance were associated with stronger employee engagement, improved client scores and better financial performance.
“More of our clients are moving in this direction and expecting it of the teams who work with them,” he added.
The company employs thousands of people across three “campuses” in London and said the move to fuller office attendance would require “detailed planning” to address capacity requirements.
In late November, data from Transport for London showed that commutes into the capital were down, as the number of workers encouraged to work from home has doubled since before the pandemic.
Research from job site Indeed, meanwhile, revealed that almost half of UK managers felt return-to-office mandates were more about appearance than purpose.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Change management opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more Change management jobs
