It's back to school season, and companies are ordering employees to return to the workplace. Cheddar News speaks with Reed Alexander, Finance Reporter at Insider about different tactics employers are using to entice workers back to the office, two years into the pandemic. 

Closing Bell

Employers Push for Post-Labor Day Return to Office

and employers determined to get their workers back into the office with this week emerging as a turning point to reset workplace norms that were upended by the pandemic companies like Apple, Tesla. Disney and Goldman Sachs have each said that they expect employees to work from an office on a more regular basis, starting now, right after labor Day weekend. And they're implementing different strategies now. While some companies are doing away with covid vaccination requirements and enforcing straw return guidelines, others are enticing workers with perks like catered lunches or renovated offices. So joining me now is reed alexander Finance Reporter Insider, Read thanks for coming on. Companies of course trying to implement return to office policies. They failed in the past. In some cases we've seen new variants come up cases have risen, they've been local mandates as well. How serious are the mandates this time around when it comes to returning to office? Yeah, it's an excellent question. You're right over the past 2.5 years, we've been in this unusual sort of waffling position where at times we've seen corporate leaders, you know, crackdown only to scale back with the emergence of new variants and say, alright, we brought some of you back time to get you back home again. This time, things really feel different. 2.5 years into the pandemic and it does feel like many leading corporations, some of which you mentioned at the opening of this discussion are calling people back firmly. For instance. Goldman Sachs has said we're no longer considering the coronavirus as a factor in return to office. We've seen other companies like JPMorgan Chase as we've reported an insider develop entire apparatus is to collect data on what their employees are doing when they're coming and going and to call out those people who are not swiping into the office using their badges enough, including if they say they're immuno compromised or they have a high risk relative at home. The bank has said to them in some cases, you know, nevertheless you need to come in. So it does feel like now, you know, the gig is up, the lenience is gone and companies want their people back at their desks. I guess the real question though is does that really sound like what employees want? And data shows? Actually the answer may be no. Okay, so I want to talk more about that element. How likely do you think these new strategies are to succeed in getting people back? I think there are a lot of talk and fluster at some companies, there are those that are willing to put teeth behind them. For example, let's take a look at JPMorgan which is a really crucial organization to watch because outside of Wall Street, it simply is a globally recognized name in corporate America. But in the world of finance, it's the biggest bank in the US now that bank has absolutely implemented some forms of retaliatory measures against employees who come in, some who failed to come in enough in accordance with the bank's hybrid model, they say we want you in three days a week, have been told they could be docked for promotions and they won't be on promotion cycle. They could see their end of year incentive comp impacted for failing to come in. That's putting aside performance. That's just if they swipe into the office enough other firms like Goldman Sachs have communicated directly to work who don't come in enough that they're in violation of the rules. But then you see a whole other sector of companies say tech companies that are managing to lure a lot of people to them, even in this strange sort of economic time that we're in, where we're worried about layoffs, etcetera. Workers are still winning some victories when it comes to getting concessions out of companies around flexible work. And tech companies have very much been in the vanguard of that read, I wish we had more time. We got to leave it there, but I hope you'll come back on the show. That's read alexander Finance Reporter at Insider, thank you