IBM Consulting is the latest to order an immediate return to office

IBM Consulting has become the latest big name to order a full return-to-office mandate for its workers, despite a widespread acceptance that hybrid working is here to stay.

According to a report by The Register, IBM Consulting told its US-based executives and people managers that they must work from a corporate office at least three days per week.

The mandate reportedly came into effect immediately, and workers failing to comply are believed to face consequences.

IBM Consulting office-based working

John Granger, SVP of IBM Consulting, shared the message with staff this week after urging (but not mandating) workers to be in the office three days per week “wherever possible” in 2022.

The mandate is believed to be a company-wide one, extending beyond the firm’s Consulting business. Moreover, IBM workers have been reasonably sheltered from the storm that has prevailed for more than a year. In January 2023, around 2% of the company’s workforce was laid off – a reasonably small percentage given that some tech firms were saying goodbye to up to 10% of their workers. Another, much smaller series of layoffs was announced in July, affecting Israeli workers.

An unnamed source told The Register that the move comes as IBM closes some regional hubs.

Those currently not complying with the newly pushed mandate have been given until August 1 to relocate. They are also believed to have just 30 days to commit to a move after having received the notice.

Feedback from employees and the community has been pretty negative so far, with many posting their experiences to a Reddit thread.

Clearly, despite major layoffs across the tech industry throughout 2023 resulting in around 262,000 job losses (via layoffs.fyi) and seemingly just as many return-to-office mandates, workers are still not safe, because IBM Consulting is one of the many to continue that trend.

TechRadar Pro has asked IBM to confirm the mandate and add any further comments. Any response will be updated here.

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