Workers return to altered pandemic workplaces

NEW YORK — Bergmeyer, a design firm in Boston, has erected higher cubicles, told its employees to wear masks when not at their desks, and set up one-way aisles in the office that force people to walk the long way around to get to the kitchen or the bathroom.

“The one-way paths take me a little out of the way, but it was easy to get used to,” said Stephanie Jones, an interior designer with the company. “It actually gives me the opportunity to see more people and say a quick hello when I might have just walked directly to my desk before.”

Around the U.S., office workers sent home when the coronavirus took hold in March are returning to the world of cubicles and facing certain adjustments: masks, staggered shifts, spaced-apart desks, daily questions about their health, closed break rooms and hand sanitizer everywhere.

For some at least, there are also advantages, including the opportunity to share chitchat with colleagues again or the ability to get more work done.

Employers in some cases are requiring workers to come back to the office, but most, like Bergmeyer, are letting the employees decide what to do — at least for now. Some firms say the risks and precautions are worth it to boost productivity.

It is a meager trend so far: Real estate trade group NAIOP Massachusetts estimates the occupancy rate for many office towers in downtown Boston at around 5% and about 10% to 20% in the suburbs. That echoes what is happening in other cities. In New York, real estate firm CBRE said the offices it manages have a 7% occupancy rate in Manhattan and nearly 30% in the suburbs.