Intel lays out its flexible working policy

Intel is looking to bring employees back to its office campuses as the world continues to emerge from lockdown and work-from-home mandates.

Intel will be “embracing flexibility” according to a LinkedIn post from chief people officer Christy Pambianchi, with the multinational company establishing a work policy that takes into account “the specific needs of different business units, teams, employees and geographies, and the different work each of us do throughout the year.”

In an internal memo seen by The Register, Pambianchi said Intel had reached the decision to encourage employees back to the office due to “a high level of community immunity and a 90% vaccination rate among our employees.”

Last November, Intel announced that it would be focused on providing a “dynamic, flexible, and inclusive” workplace for its 121,000 global employees. In an internal survey conducted by Intel in April 2021, 90% of workers said they would prefer a hybrid approach when offices eventually reopened.

In December 2021, The Oregonian obtained a memo from Pambianchi outlining an Intel policy that unvaccinated employees would need to submit an exception request by January 4, or face being placed on unpaid leave. However, following the Supreme Court’s decision to throw out the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large employers, Intel decided to put its own vaccine policy on hold.

Most major tech companies, from Twitter to Microsoft, have now publicly announced flexible working policies as they move to reopen their offices. However, the differing approaches from each shows there is still no one-size-fits-all solution to tackling this shift to hybrid working practices.

Speaking to Computerworld earlier this month, Adam Preset, vice president analyst for employee experience technologies at Gartner, said that the remote work strategies of the tech giants could have a wider influence on enterprise decision makers. “When the tech giants signal they are ready to reopen offices, it excites conversation in different businesses about their own readiness,” he said.