Hugo Boss to adopt mobile working model post-Covid

Hugo Boss has announced it will only ask employees to work from the office from Tuesdays to Thursdays even after the Covid-19 crisis.

The “Threedom of Work” work model, which will be implemented from October, will initially be applicable to the approximately 3,200 employees in the brand’s native Germany whose jobs do not require physical attendance at the workplace.

Staff will be asked only to work from offices from Tuesdays to Thursdays and will have the option to work remotely for the remaining days. “The three core days allow meetings and events to be scheduled more effectively,” the company said.

The decision was based on an internal survey of some 2,000 employees which saw more than 90 percent voting in favor for between two and three days of mobile working a week.

It makes the brand one of the first major companies in the fashion industry to announce such a move, though it will certainly not be the last. For many businesses, operations during lockdown have been as effective if not more so despite offices being closed.

“The survey confirmed what most of us already knew: the future belongs to tailored combinations of office-based and off-site work," Jochen Eckhold, director global human resources at Hugo Boss, said in a statement. "Our hybrid working model caters to employees' growing desire for alternative scheduling and location options. As an employer, we feel it is our responsibility to accommodate these changing needs.”

The brand also noted the environmental benefits of less commuting, as well as the added appeal the new model will have for potential applicants.

The group said it expects the “Threedom of Work” provisions to be “broadly embraced and widely used, and anticipates that comparable models will be adopted shortly at its international subsidiaries”. The company currently employs some 14,600 people in 60 subsidiaries around the world.

Photo credit: Hugo Boss, Facebook