Airbus bows to remote working demands after series of strikes

Aeroplane maker said to have watered down plans to restrict working from home to one day a week Airbus has bowed to employee demands on remote working, after a series of strikes over its chief executive’s return-to-the office orders. The world’s largest aeroplane maker is said to have watered down plans to restrict remote working to one day a week from September. At present, staff are able to work remotely for two. It was part of a high-profile campaign by the Airbus chief executive, Guillaume Faury, to get staff back into the office, in an effort to ensure the company could meet record demand and prepare new products after hiring thousands more staff. Faury told employees in June that while home working had been a lifeline during the Covid pandemic, the opposite was now true as Airbus needed them to share their skills in person. “I count on all of you to support this,” he said in a memo, reported by Bloomberg. But disruption caused by a series of strikes, including in Spain, France and the UK in recent months, has forced him to backtrack, according to Reuters. Managers have now been told staff can work at home an average of two days a week, in effect curbing the chief executive’s