Mitsubishi to U.S. employees: Work from home forever

Chris Reynolds, who oversees Toyota’s manufacturing and human resources functions, said flexible work-from-home policies allow companies to broaden the geographic footprint of their recruiting efforts.

“If we’re now working from home and can do things virtually, do I care whether you’re in Plano, Texas, or Detroit, Mich.? I may not, depending on the job, as long as you can get to Plano periodically to meet with your team,” Reynolds told Automotive News‘ during the height of the pandemic.

For Mitsubishi, workplace flexibility is also about sourcing talent from beyond the automotive sector.

“We need to think of ourselves as a company that innovates,” Mitsubishi North America human resources chief Katherine Knight said. “If people start to notice us as being competitive with tech companies [in workplace benefits], they may look at our jobs and realize, ‘Wait a minute, not all of these jobs require automotive experience.’ ”

Mitsubishi expects that at least 90 percent of its U.S. employees will be eligible for its work-from-home benefit.

The intent is to offer maximum flexibility, Knight said.

“There may be people who decide to work from home one day a week; when their child is having a sick day; [or] work from home in the morning and come to the office in the afternoon,” she said.

Mitsubishi executives wave off concerns about productivity decreasing with employees distracted by crying babies or the temptation to catch an afternoon baseball game on television.

“Through the COVID transition, our employee team has proven that we can both be productive and run a successful business from HQ or the home office,” Chaffin said.