Corporate America revamps back-to-office plans on Omicron threat

(Reuters) – 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)

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