Another of Minneapolis' largest employers is doubling down on in-person work, with General Mills planning to raise its attendance mandate to accelerate the company's broader turnaround efforts.
The global food manufacturer is preparing to call back a majority of its North American employees, raising its policy to at least four days of in-office work per week starting in early September. The revised mandate is the latest in a parade of others that have or will soon be adopted by other major companies in the Minneapolis area, many of which are in the middle of their own restructuring pushes.
For the Golden Valley, Minnesota-based food company, the new policy will emphasize attendance Monday through Thursday, shedding its earlier iteration that allowed many workers to pop into an office for about three days a week.
Best known for iconic brands such as Cheerios, Pillsbury, Lucky Charms, Bisquick and Chex, General Mills has struggled in recent years alongside other major food companies amid rising competition, budget-conscious shoppers, shifting consumer preferences and inflation-driven cost pressures.
“Recent business performance has not met our expectations, and we’re actively working — and yes, physically coming in — to get back to growth,” General Mills Chief Executive Jeff Harmening said in a statement. “I appreciate changes of this nature are challenging for some, and we are committed to supporting the team with resources and transition time.”
The company recently posted a profit of about $303 million for its most recent quarter ended Feb. 22, a significant drop compared to the more than $625.5 million it reported for the same period last year. General Mills also walked back its expectations for the remainder of 2026, estimating its organic net sales will fall by as much as 2% while it scrambles to reverse the yearslong sales slump by introducing new products and investing more in marketing and packaging improvements.
And, starting in September, having more of its employees show up to the office in person.
See you in person
General Mills' escalated attendance policy comes just a few months after other major Minneapolis-area companies Best Buy and Target upped their in-person mandates.
Best Buy, also in the middle of its own turnaround plan, told employees earlier this month they'd soon be required to show up to the office at least four days a week instead of three. Target now requires its corporate workforce to commute to its Minneapolis headquarters up to four days a week. Others including 3M, Ecolab and U.S. Bancorp have also tightened their policies in recent years.
To be clear, these heightened attendance policies don't immediately translate into increased demand for office space.
Yet landlords across the country have long pointed to the return-to-office push as a critical backbone for the national office market's post-pandemic rebound.
Minneapolis, for example, has slogged through myriad challenges over the past half-decade as it has tried to overcome the fallout from the pandemic. Vacancy rates in the region have soared to nearly 12%, according to CoStar data, and civil unrest over the past several months has created an environment of uncertainty that local stakeholders said is hardly appealing to tenants or buyers looking to invest in the regional office market.
Yet some brightening flurries are beginning to emerge, most recently with tenants signing on for more space throughout the first quarter of the year than they offloaded. Demand since the beginning of the year has climbed to about 400,000 square feet, the data shows, a figure that could rise as people commute to physical spaces on a more regular basis.