CFOs Plan to Reopen Offices But May Keep Some Pandemic Changes
June 07 2021 - 7:45PM
Dow Jones News
By Kristin Broughton
Finance chiefs are drawing up plans to reopen their companies'
offices but want to stick to certain changes made during the
pandemic to control costs and drive sales.
Speaking Monday at The Wall Street Journal's CFO Network Summit,
the chief financial officers of AT&T Inc., Estée Lauder Cos.
and Salesforce.com Inc. said they are helping their companies
prepare for when restrictions end and business operations
normalize. That includes boosting investment in digital
capabilities, building out online offerings and figuring out how
much real estate their companies will need in the years to
come.
AT&T plans to shrink its footprint of company-owned stores
as it relies more heavily on digital channels to boost sales, said
Pascal Desroches, who took over as CFO earlier this year. The
Dallas-based telecommunications company is also reviewing its
corporate real estate footprint, Mr. Desroches said, noting that he
expects some employees to work either remotely or with hybrid
schedules once offices fully reopen.
"We really learned we can reimagine the way work can be
performed," Mr. Desroches said, citing benefits of remote work such
as improved efficiency. AT&T doesn't disclose its total store
count, according to a spokeswoman. The company had about 230,000
employees as of Jan. 31.
AT&T doesn't plan on forcing employees to get vaccinated,
but intends to offer perks and privileges to those who do, such as
allowing them to attend office meetings without masks, Mr.
Desroches said. "We are using the carrot approach," he said.
Salesforce is also drawing up plans for bringing employees back
to its corporate offices, Amy Weaver, the company's finance chief,
said. The San Francisco-based software company expects that about
20% of its employees will continue to work remotely once offices
reopen, up slightly from 15% who did so before the pandemic. Most
Salesforce employees prefer a hybrid schedule, she said, citing
internal surveys. Salesforce is now trying to assess what that
means for occupancy rates.
"We have beautiful real estate around the world, which I love,
but I love it more when it is fully occupied," Ms. Weaver said. The
company, which had about 56,600 employees as of Jan. 31, hasn't
determined if it will require its employees to be vaccinated, she
said.
After retailers temporarily closed stores last spring, Estée
Lauder boosted its e-commerce investments to allow customers to try
on makeup virtually or participate in digital sales events, said
CFO Tracey Travis. The cosmetics giant had tested some of those
digital tools before the pandemic forced stores to close, Ms.
Travis said. "What the pandemic did was accelerate some of those
experiments," she said.
Ms. Travis said she expects online selling capabilities to
remain critical even as stores fully reopen in order to cater to
customers who prefer to buy skin care products and makeup
online.
Virtual employee meetings, meanwhile, have been a boon for
Salesforce, Ms. Weaver said. The company at the beginning of its
fiscal year usually hosts various events for its sales staff that
can last several weeks in total. This year, the virtual format took
only three days, resulting in lower travel costs and less time away
from clients, she said.
"There [are] new ways of doing business that are going to
benefit you in terms of revenue and savings," Ms. Weaver said.
Write to Kristin Broughton at Kristin.Broughton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 07, 2021 19:30 ET (23:30 GMT)
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