Independence Blue Cross Is Latest Philly Firm To Mandate 3-Day Workweek As Others Give Up

Independence Blue Cross has joined a handful of Center City firms calling workers back to the office at least three or four days per week, even as other firms throw in the towel amid persistently lagging Philadelphia return-to-office numbers.

This month, the healthcare company began requiring its 3,000 employees to work in-office three days per week, ditching its “hybrid of choice” policy, the Philadelphia Inquirer first reported. Workers must come in each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for a full day. This will be enforced starting in March for managers and supervisors and in April for everyone else.

In 2022, Philadephia-headquartered Comcast implemented the same policy, then ramped up the requirement last fall to four days at its Center City office, which employs about 8,000 workers. 

The mandates come as Philadelphia continues its struggle with RTO, a precedent set after the onset of the pandemic four years ago. The city’s average in-office occupancy rate lagged eight out of 10 major cities that Kastle Systems’ keycard swipe system tracks as of the week ending Feb. 7.

The city’s highest average daily occupancy rate was 50.5% on Tuesdays over the four weeks ending on Feb. 6, according to Kastle’s barometer. In comparison, Austin, Texas, capped out its Tuesday average at 71.8% over the same period.

Cherelle Parker, Philadelphia’s new mayor, has pushed for a strict in-office policy for municipal workers as well, touting the need to have workers in Center City five days per week.

“The private sector is right when they talk about return to work,” Parker said in a statement. “It is incumbent that city workers come back to the office for the future of Center City. Philadelphia can only truly say we are ‘open for business’ when all of our workers are back in the office Monday through Friday, and you’ll be hearing more from me on the city’s plan to bring city workers back — soon.”

But even as the city and some major companies crack down, other firms are beginning to leave their office requirements, and sometimes their leases, behind.

Sales servicing site QuotaPath has ditched its coworking spot at Mindspace Philadelphia’s 100 E. Penn Square office, and its physical footprint is down to an Austin, Texas-only headquarters, Technical.ly reported today.

Crossbeam, which performs data services for businesses, has begun touting itself as a  “remote-first” company, according to its website. The firm traded its lease at the Philadelphia Building at 1315 Walnut St for a Deskpass subscription for every employee, CEO Bob Moore told Technical.ly.

“The irony was, despite the fact that we’re paying for this office in Philly, it’s too big for the people that want to work there every day, and it’s too small for us to hold off-sites and whatnot with everyone there,” Moore told the outlet.

Nationally, most firms are pushing for a return to the office. Of the 800 business leaders surveyed by Resume Builder in December, about 8 in 10 stated they planned to require some in-office attendance. And 95% of business leaders said employees will face consequences for not complying with the demand.