That's what China and Mexico and Brazil are all about. Ford loved 2020 divesting itself of all those buildings. And it wants to keep the savings. The full RTO has been put off despite pressure from state and local politicians because Ford wants to limit it's building footprint in the Dearborn area. Once the NA work force fits comfortably into the existing buildings, full RTO is coming.
Ford HR is also tired of the tax implications of so many remote workers. It's been a logistical nightmare dealing with all of the states and their complex income tax laws. Even the states without income tax causes a nightmare for HR because their systems were not setup to handle that. So remote workers get reported to the state of Michigan erroneously and then it takes manual intervention to unwind all of that. Not to mention the worker's comp and unemployment implications. It's a complete mess and has been since COVID.
So once the layoffs (and they are huge impacting every part of the company) are completed, any remaining remote workers will be given the choice to relocate or quit. And full RTO will become a reality.
Management's thinking is that if full RTO results in people quitting, that's just more headcount to outsource.
Our LL3 told us all last year that this isn't your daddy's Ford, that this is the new Ford and that not everyone would be making this journey with the company. It was an ominous warning and it was followed with two sizable layoffs, and the promise of more in the future.
Welcome to the future!
Note: those of you in denial with your head in the sand can ignore this and dismiss it as hearsay.. But this info comes from a retired LL4 who was in the know and still routinely talks to former colleagues. You've been warned.