Stellantis the Latest to Order Employees Back to Their Offices

Stellantis is ordering workers to report back to their offices five days a week. It’s the latest automaker to abandon the work-at-home practices that were put in place nearly six years ago as COVID lockdowns shook up the working world.

If you work for Stellantis anywhere here in the U.S., odds are you only occasionally reported into your office over the last six years, unless you had a manufacturing job.

That’s about to come to an end. The automaker has slowly phased out its pandemic policy, currently requiring employees to show up at the office three days a week. As of next month, you’ll need to be at your desk or workstation Monday through Friday.

Stellantis becomes the latest carmaker to abandon that pandemic practice, following Ford which phased out its work-from-home policy last September. Only a few of the manufacturers operating in the U.S. now operate under “mixed” policies which allow employees with non-manufacturing roles to split up the week with some office days and others where they can still report in while wearing pajamas.

What’s New

White-collar Stellantis employees at the director level and above will revert to five-day office schedules as of February 16, the automaker confirmed Monday. Those at lower levels will switch back on March 30. The Euro-American automaker is taking a similar approach at offices in other parts of the world.

“As Stellantis implements its growth strategy, in‑person collaboration and connection will be key to delivering exceptional products and services to our customers,” spokesperson Jodi Tinson said in a statement.

“Under new guidelines, U.S. employees will transition to a fully on-site schedule over the next two months to further strengthen alignment, teamwork, and hands-on engagement with Stellantis vehicles and technologies. This announcement is confirmation that bringing teams together to build stronger connections is a competitive necessity,” Tinson added.

A handful of holdouts

Ford switched to a four-day office schedule last September. Other manufacturers, such as Hyundai and Kia have also moved away from the work-at-home approach that was first necessitated during the COVID-19 outbreak that forced lockdowns across the country.

General Motors and Toyota still allow some at-home work each week, GM demanding white-collar employees come in three days a week.

The fallback to a traditional work model can be found in most corporations across the country – though there has been some pushback. In Silicon Valley, where even tiny homes can top $1 million, many high-tech employees jumped at the opportunity to relocate to less costly locations. Pew Research found many employees planning to hand in resignations when the back-to-office push began in earnest in 2024. But the sharp reduction in tech jobs – Amazon last month laying off 16,000 employees —  has changed the balance of power.

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Thumbs down

Still, not everyone is pleased. There have been lawsuits filed, notably by employees who complained about workplaces that allegedly didn’t comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Not everyone appears disappointed. Studies taken since the first COVID work programs were announced found decidedly mixed attitudes on the work-at-home subject. A Pew study released in January 2025 found 17% of employees saying “they’d opt for never or rarely working from home.”

Other studies found such employees saw their offices as an essential part of their social life. Some workers also felt that they missed the collaborative nature of an office that couldn’t be matched using virtual meeting tools such as Zoom or Google Meet.

Those reasons reflect what corporate planners see as essential to getting employees back into their offices.