NEW YORK - When the coronavirus pandemic shuttered offices around the United States in March, many companies told their employees that it would be only a short hiatus away from headquarters.
And workers said they were in no rush to go back, with 73 per cent of US employees fearing that being in their workplace could pose a risk to their personal health and safety, according to a study by Wakefield Research commissioned by Envoy, a workplace technology company. The postponement of return dates is a"psychological blow for those who expected this to be a transition phase", said Tsedal Neeley, a Harvard Business School professor who studies remote work."The reality is hitting that, 'There won't be a vaccine as I expected very quickly. This is going to be my life, and I'd better learn how to do this.'"
"I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months," Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai wrote in an email to employees about the July 2021 date. Other companies that have delayed their returns to the office until next summer often face a more complicated decision because their workforces are not just made up of white-collar engineers, unlike those of internet companies.
Last month, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase sent send some workers back home after employees who had returned to the office tested positive for Covid-19. Even when the pandemic subsides, 72 per cent of Slack employees surveyed said, they preferred that the company allow a mix of at-home and office work. Slack operates a messaging platform used by many businesses.
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