Airbus bows to remote working demands after series of strikes

Airbus has bowed to employee demands on remote working, after a series of strikes over its chief executive’s return-to-the office orders.

The world’s largest aeroplane maker is said to have watered down plans to restrict remote working to one day a week from September. At present, staff are able to work remotely for two.

It was part of a high-profile campaign by the Airbus chief executive, Guillaume Faury, to get staff back into the office, in an effort to ensure the company could meet record demand and prepare new products after hiring thousands more staff.

Faury told employees in June that while home working had been a lifeline during the Covid pandemic, the opposite was now true as Airbus needed them to share their skills in person. “I count on all of you to support this,” he said in a memo, reported by Bloomberg.

But disruption caused by a series of strikes, including in Spain, France and the UK in recent months, has forced him to backtrack, according to Reuters. Managers have now been told staff can work at home an average of two days a week, in effect curbing the chief executive’s efforts.

In Spain, staff have been striking on and off since July, with approximately 40% of the company’s 14,000 local workers taking part in stoppages in recent weeks over issues including remote working, transport, paid leave and salaries.

There have also been sporadic protests in France over plans to force white-collar staff into the office four days a week.

However, Reuters said Airbus production – which is at the heart of the European defence industry – had not been affected by the strikes.

An Airbus spokesperson said: “Our objective remains the same: we aim for increased on-site presence to ensure better collective efficiency, knowledge transfer and faster decision-making.

“However, effective change requires listening to our people. Based on employee feedback, we have decided to implement this transition more gradually.”

The spokesperson added: “We are empowering managers to organise hybrid working within their teams in a pragmatic and practical way that maximises collective efficiency and reflects the reality of their working environments. This will be done within the scope of Airbus’s current collective agreements for hybrid working.”