– Companies across the United States are revising their back-to-office plans, driven by rising uncertainty around the Omicron COVID-19 variant that has pushed up infections to record levels in the world’s biggest economy.
U.S. financial firms were among the first to encourage employees to return to offices, but rising cases have forced most of the major banks to rethink their plans and tighten vaccination mandates.
Here is a list of companies that have taken new actions as Omicron cases rose:
Company Latest action
Meta Platforms Inc Delays office reopening to
March 28 from Jan. 31, mandates
booster jabs for workers
returning to office
Alphabet Inc Delays January return-to-office
plan globally for an indefinite
period of time
Amazon.com Inc Shortens isolation to one week
from 10 days for those testing
positive for COVID-19 after
updated guidance from the CDC
Starbucks Corp Will require U.S. workers to be
fully vaccinated against
COVID-19 or undergo weekly
testing
Walmart Inc Reduces paid leave for workers
testing positive for COVID-19
to one week from two weeks
after updated CDC guidance
Kroger Co Will stop providing paid
COVID-19 leave for unvaccinated
employees and will apply $50
monthly health insurance
surcharge to salaried non-union
workers who are unvaccinated
Chevron Corp Postponed a scheduled January
full return to office for its
two largest U.S. work sites,
did not specify new return date
Bank of America Offers on-site vaccine booster
clinics, encourages employees
to work remotely
Citigroup Will begin implementing a
‘no-jab, no-job’ policy for
employees starting Jan. 14,
unless they have been granted
an exemption
Goldman Sachs Encourages eligible U.S. staff
to work from home until Jan.
18, offices will continue to
remain open with previously
announced COVID-19 safety
protocols
JPMorgan Chase & Co Offers staff option of working
from home for the first two
weeks of 2022, with a caveat
that all employees are expected
to return to office no later
than Feb. 1
Morgan Stanley Asks employees, contractors and
visitors to show proof of
vaccination before entering its
New York headquarters
Wells Fargo & Co Delays plans for employees to
return to the office “given the
changing external environment”
Jefferies Asks staff to work remotely
until Jan. 31, according to a
post on Instagram from the
investment bank’s chief
executive officer
Ford Motor Co. Says it will push
return-to-work hybrid plan to
March as the state of the
COVID-19 pandemic remained
uncertain
(This story was refiled to add media packaging code.)
(Compiled by Nivedita Balu, Akash Sriram, Praveen Paramasivam and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
