Home Depot got a hefty boost from do-it-yourselfers upgrading their remote-work setups in the early years of the pandemic. But the home improvement retailer is now tightening up its own in-office policy as part of a broader effort to strengthen its business amid mounting economic uncertainty.
The Atlanta-based company is ordering its corporate workforce back to a full, five-day workweek with a goal to drive "greater agility," a Home Depot spokesman said in a statement. Employees will be required to work on-site, with any unexcused absences, tardiness, or no-shows resulting in disciplinary action that — if repeated — could lead to their firing.
The escalated mandate, scheduled to take effect in early April, comes alongside news that the company will also eliminate hundreds of roles with ties to its store support center as it tries to simplify its top-level organization to better support its workforce and customers.
"These changes are essential to simplify our business and focus our energy on the priorities ahead," CEO Ted Decker said in a memo sent to employees this week.
The layoffs will affect fewer than 150 employees at its Atlanta headquarters, a Home Depot spokesperson said of the decision, which will cut 800 corporate positions. The rest of the people affected work remotely.
The retailer employed 470,100 people by the end of fiscal year 2024, according to information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Joining the crowd
Home Depot's new attendance policy aligns with other corporate America heavyweights that view remote or hybrid work as an impediment to growth and innovation.
Companies nationwide are demanding more in-person time from employees, either by revoking those flexible work privileges, increasing the number of days they're required to be in an office or asking a portion of the workforce to relocate closer to a corporate hub.
Some of the country's largest landlords have said that stricter in-office mandates are enough to bolster optimism that demand for space will climb as corporate heavyweights push to revert to their pre-pandemic workweek schedules.
The demand for office space has been building since the start of the year, as corporate heavy hitters such as Amazon, Starbucks, Target, Dell and Salesforce push for more stringent in-person requirements.
The number of CEOs who believed their companies would adopt a full return to a five-day workweek climbed to about 85% from the 64% reported in 2023, according to a KPMG survey.
Hybrid mandates have plummeted from about 80% to roughly 40% over the same period, and only 1% of companies continue to allow fully remote policies, according to a JLL survey.
Upper hand
Revised mandates, such as Home Depot's, also underscore the power that companies are leveraging as the national job market weakens and employers no longer face the steep competition for talent displayed in the earlier years of the pandemic.
As a result, companies — particularly those embarking on broader turnaround and restructuring efforts — are pulling the plug on flexible work policies and reinforcing their commitment to in-person work.
Amazon, Starbucks and Target, among others, have reverted to stricter attendance policies as they aim to streamline their operations and better compete in the face of mounting economic uncertainty.
For Home Depot, that uncertainty has come in the form of affordability, tariffs, an increasingly complicated housing market, and disruptions stemming from immigration enforcement.
While many of its customers continue to open their wallets for smaller projects such as gardening or painting, many have pulled back on more expensive home renovations — especially as the rate of moving and buying homes has dropped to its slowest pace in years.
Prior to the revision, Home Depot's corporate workforce reported to an office Monday through Thursday.