IBM tells managers to return to the office, or else

IBM has a message for managers: Get to your desk or get lost.

In a memo sent mid-January, IBM SVP John Granger ordered all managers in the US to report to the office at least three days a week “regardless of current work location status,” effective immediately and to be enforced via badge-swipe data, Bloomberg reported.

The memo also notified managers who have been working from too far afield to commute to relocate by August, according to Bloomberg, with one source saying they understood the directive to be an order to move within 50 miles of an IBM office.

Granger reportedly warned that barring exceptions such as medical issues, managers who cannot meet these requirements, and who cannot transfer to a job with looser in-person requirements, will “separate from IBM.”

In a statement to IT Brew, IBM Corporate Communications Manager Jessica C. Chen confirmed the company will require “executives and people managers” to be in the office three days a week.

“IBM is focused on providing a work environment that balances flexibility with the face-to-face interactions that make us more productive, innovative, and better able to serve our clients,” Chen wrote.

Big Blue is one of several large firms in tech or related industry to have taken a strict stance on return-to-office (RTO) policies. Amazon, Apple, AT&T, and Google, among others, have all warned workers of potential consequences for noncompliance with RTO policies. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna had told Bloomberg last year employees who did not voluntarily come to the office risked being passed over for promotions.

While research on remote work’s impact on productivity has come up with mixed findings, it’s clear that it has an impact on workload for IT departments.

A September 2023 study by Enterprise Management Associates found 73% of network operations teams reported increased workloads following shifts to hybrid or remote work, with top issues tending to center around employee connectivity. Other surveys have reported similar impacts on workload for IT teams, resulting in everything from stress and burnout to increased cybersecurity risks and reliance on remote management tech.

But research from Stanford economist Nick Bloom has indicated the RTO trend may be hitting a wall. The percentage of full days worked from home across the US economy remained steady at a floor of around 30% throughout 2023, according to data collected by Bloom and colleagues. A recent Conference Board survey of US CEOs found that just 4% plan “to prioritize a full-time return to the office” in 2024.

One University of Pittsburgh study found RTO mandates may not result in productivity gain, and may have the side-effect of negatively impacting employees’ job satisfaction.

IBM does expect to cut jobs this year at a similar rate to 2023, when about 3,900 positions were eliminated, CFO James Kavanaugh said during the company’s Q4 2023 earnings conference in January, explaining the layoffs as part of a “rebalancing” process. Stock in IBM surged to its highest price in a decade following the report, driven largely by strong revenue numbers and expectations of major growth in its AI business.