Marianne Zeller, MCR, Ingram Micro's Executive Director, Global Real Estate, shared her department's journey through the COVID-19 crisis and methods her firm is using to return employees to work. With more than 20 million sq ft of worldwide space and 195 warehouses, Ingram Micro's initial response to the financial impact of global shutdown was to close smaller offices outright opting for work from home (WFH) and co-working strategies. Mid-sized and larger facilities required a more complex approach. Part of Zeller's approach to assisting decision makers with the task was the development of corporate real estate dashboard that showed metrics for total space, price/value and termination options.
When it was time for returning to work, Zeller worked with other teams at Ingram Micro like human resources, IT, security and facilities to develop guidelines and checklists for return to work and mandatory practices that would help employees feel safe and comfortable as the company's sites re-opened. Cleaning practices, improvements to air filtration, complications related to working all day in a mask and the implications for family care without schools reopening were all the topics requiring attention by the multi-disciplinary team. In the end Ingram Micro opted for a rotating schedule of about 25 - 33 % of its workforce each week with the first group returning just this week.