Virus pandemic brings change to work routines
NEW YORK — It started with extra hand sanitizer and wipes for keyboards and headphones. Then a directive for employees to lug their laptops home every night just in case. Finally, the memo arrived urging all employees to work from home — just not in their pajamas.
The scene at New York real estate firm SquareFoot is playing repeatedly across the U.S. as workplaces make a mass shift toward allowing employees who can to work remotely in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
With no firm federal or local guidance on when or how to act, employers are weighing how far to take their own disruptive measures as communities from New York to California shut down around them. And the millions who can’t work from home face uncertainty as their workplaces see a business drop or shut down completely, from museums and concert halls to Disneyland.
Even for companies that employ mostly office workers, the sudden change is complicated. Not all client meetings can shift to phone or video. Employees lack laptops, security passwords or even the right ergonomic chair. Companies — and employees — are worried about a drop-off in productivity.
“Please do not treat this as a vacation,” SquareFoot’s managers said in a memo, encouraging employees to change their clothes, sit at a table and get into “a routine that gets you into the mindset of work.”
Many companies have a mix of employees who can easily do their jobs remotely and others who can’t.
Amazon — among other big tech companies — told much of its office staff to work from home, but workers who pick, pack and ship orders are still reporting to warehouses with extra hand sanitizer dispensers on the walls.
J.P. Morgan Chase has sent traders to backup sites in New Jersey and Brooklyn because they require specialized work stations. The investment bank has split its New York-area employees into groups that will take turns working from home starting Friday, but employees at bank branches are expected onsite.
SquareFoot’s employees also can’t all be homebound. The firm, which helps companies find office space, told its brokers to continue giving property tours to clients who want them.
SquareFoot Finance Director Lindsay Garfield, who spent two weeks stocking up on food, said she is relieved to be avoiding the subway. But she frets about the company’s bottom line if clients stop going on property tours. One has already put off a search for space in New York City because of trouble getting on flights.
“I’m trying not to think about that,” said Garfield, who gets dressed in the morning and runs a quick errand to make herself feel like she’s still “going to work.”
No legal standard for employers specifically covers disease outbreaks, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which enforces safe working conditions.