There's a trend sweeping through the U.S. auto industry, and it's threatening to do to the cubicle what the crossover did to the sedan.
Several automakers — including Ford, Daimler and Toyota — say they've been so impressed with how efficiently some of their U.S. employees have operated while they have been forced to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic that they are now thinking about extending the arrangement, perhaps even making it permanent.
Such a dramatic shift in the hidebound world of office work could bring with it myriad effects to the way large companies, including automakers, manage day-to-day operations: their hiring practices, staffing levels, company culture and even their needs for commercial real estate.