- Boeing is trying to get employees back to the office with happy hours and alpaca visits, the WSJ reports.
- CEO David Calhoun has taken over 400 private jet trips from his homes and is rarely seen in the office.
- While Boeing recently opened a small office five minutes away from the CFO’s home.
Boeing’s CEO is enjoying private-jet commutes while just 30% of the company’s job postings allow for remote working, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Since the aircraft manufacturer moved its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Virginia last May, managers have tried to encourage a return-to-office by deploying happy hours, guest speakers, and even visits from alpacas — while the CEO and CFO are rarely spotted, staff told the Journal.
David Calhoun took over as Boeing CEO shortly before the pandemic, when like most office workers, he started working from home. Over the last three years, Boeings fleet of private jets have made around 400 trips to or from airports near his homes, one on the waterfront by New Hampshire’s Lake Sunapee and the other in a gated South Carolina resort community, per the WSJ.
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And Brian West, the chief financial officer, also hasn’t relocated to the company’s headquarters — but Boeing has recently opened a small office five minutes away from his home in Connecticut, the Journal reported.
Some employees have been making fun of Calhoun’s apparent absence since Jim Cramer called him out on CNBC in 2021, amid production problems with the 787 Dreamliner.
“What’s he doing? Is he like at Lake Sunapee or something in New Hampshire?” Cramer said. The Journal reports that several Boeing employees then began displaying “Lake Sunapee” signs in their offices, and others had souvenir mugs like one that read: “Love Lake Life.”
“We have been transforming our leadership culture to encourage our management team to engage more frequently with employees, customers and other stakeholders,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a statement shared with Insider.
“It’s why we moved senior leaders out of our Chicago office and closer to their teams three years ago, and why we continue to empower them to spend less time at corporate headquarters and more time with employees and stakeholders.
“As with many companies, we have introduced more flexibility across multiple levels to enable people to work in ways that are most productive and supportive of our global business, and we’re pleased that this approach has allowed us to attract top talent across disciplines as we continue to execute our recovery plans.”
