Smucker’s has found a return-to-office solution that workers seem to like — in-person work for only 22 weeks a year

• J.M. Smucker has an RTO policy that requires workers to be on-site only during 22 “core” weeks.
• During these weeks, the company’s campus in Orrville, Ohio, is between 70-80% full, the WSJ reports.
• The Smucker model appears to be a hit with workers, who can live anywhere as long as they return for “core” weeks.

Some companies are getting pretty serious about bringing workers back to the office. 

Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy just told employees it was “past” time to commit to its return-to-office mandate of three days a week. Last week, Goldman Sachs told more of its workers to start coming into the office five days a week. And earlier this month, work-from-home darling Zoom told employees to come into the office two days a week. 

While some of these mandates have been met with pushback from employees, there are a few bright spots in the return-to-office battle. J.M. Smucker, the company behind of a host of well-known products — like Smucker’s jam, Jif peanut butter, and Uncrustables — has implemented a novel return-to-work policy — one that workers seem to like. 

Since January 2022, the company has been trying to bring workers back to its headquarters in Orrville, Ohio, during its 22 “core” weeks a year, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal. Core weeks usually take place every other week, except for the months of July and December when the company holds just one core week a month, according to the Journal. 

The plan didn’t initially gain traction with employees, but these days, Smucker’s home office is between 70% to 80% full during most core weeks, the Journal said. Many employees usually pack their days with meetings, team lunches, and dinners during core weeks, and company leaders usually save meetings that require “deep focus” for these periods, the Journal said. 

“The goal of the model is to offer our employees flexibility, foster in-person connection and drive business results,” a spokesperson for the company told Insider by email. “We are committed to consistently evaluating the model to ensure it continues to meet the needs of our employees and the business; however, we are pleased with the results to date.”

The company has about 6,000 employees worldwide, but the “core” weeks program is targeted at the 1,300 corporate workers based at its Orrville headquarters. Employees are asked to come into Orrville’s campus for at least six days a month — or 25% of the time — during those core weeks, Journal said. Aside from that required time, they’re allowed to be based anywhere in the US.

Though many employees continue to drive into the Orrville headquarters from nearby cities, the program has also given rise to a group of “super-commuters” who live all over the country, the Journal noted. The company usually publishes its core week schedule a year in advance to give its employees time to plan their office visits, the Journal said. 

Nicole Massey, the vice president of marketing who oversees the company’s consumer foods division, lives in San Francisco, but commutes to Orrville for core weeks, according to the Journal’s report. 

“I travel more,” Massey told the Journal, “but I really feel I’m home and present actually much more than I would be if I was working at a company in the Bay Area and commuting even three days a week.” 

There are still a small number of salaried employees, like food scientists who need specialized equipment, who come in five days a week. the Journal said. The 300 or so employees who work in the company’s manufacturing division — which produces its jams, jellies, and ice cream toppings —  also don’t participate in core weeks, the Journal said.  

Mark Smucker, the company’s CEO and a fifth-generation member of the founding family, commutes 40 minutes into the Orrville campus from his home in Akron, Ohio, on most days, according to the Journal. “The relationships get built in between meetings, not during meetings,” he told the Journal. 

Does your company have a return-to-office policy that you think is working— or failing? We want to hear from you. Contact reporter Lakshmi Varanasi at [email protected].