AT&T orders more U.S. employees to return to office 5 days a week in 2025

December 18, 2024

AT&T is dumping hybrid work and requiring more of its U.S. employees to work on-site a full five days a week starting in January.

The Dallas-based telecom firm is making the change next month following a year of accommodating some work from home in its push to return to the office.

In summer 2023, CEO John Stankey said AT&T employees would be required to report at least three days a week to one of nine corporate hubs — Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles; San Ramon, California; Seattle; St. Louis; Washington, D.C.; Middletown, New Jersey; and Bedminster, New Jersey.

Roughly 18,000 management employees returned to one of AT&T’s hubs earlier this year. The company previously supported more than 300 offices across the U.S. before consolidating to the nine cities.

“The majority of our employees and leaders never stopped working on location for the full work week — including during the pandemic. We always adapt our workforce model to drive collaboration and innovation to deliver the best support for our customers,” an AT&T spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News. “As we continue to evolve our model, we are enhancing our facilities and workspaces, adapting our benefits programs, and incorporating best practices to ensure our employees are best equipped to serve our customers.”

The announcement comes after Amazon delayed the start of its five-day return to office mandate because it doesn’t have enough office space in certain locations. AT&T said it has adequate space to accommodate its Dallas-based workforce. The firm has not asked employees to relocate due to this change.

Shares of the telecom giant have soared about 35% this year. AT&T is slated to report earnings Jan. 27, and Zacks Equity Research projects the firm will report revenue of $122.34 billion for the entire fiscal year.

“Our workforce strategies are implemented based on business needs and varies by organization, location and other factors. There is no universal policy for all employees and, as always, our strategy evolves with business needs,” an AT&T spokesperson said.

Other big employers are making changes as well. Salad chain Sweetgreen Inc. will require its few hundred support staffers to work four days in the office. Starbucks Corp. has told staff they would be fired if they didn’t follow return-to-office mandates, Bloomberg reports.

Offices in the biggest U.S. cities remain half-empty compared to pre-pandemic levels as debt delinquencies spiked in November, security firm Kastle Systems told Bloomberg. Office vacancy rates in Dallas-Fort Worth were 24.7% in Q3 2024.