Many return-to-office plans stalled amid omicron surge

Companies shifting gears as uncertainty over safety mounts.

For many businesses, the start of the year has brought a swift reversal of return-to-office plans as coronavirus case counts surge and events are canceled. In recent days, companies from Goldman Sachs to Chevron have begun to backtrack on workplace policies. Some are telling employees to stay home with just days, or even hours, to spare before their planned returns.

As the government pushes to keep the economy open despite record cases — but lower hospitalization and death rates — it raises new questions for businesses preparing for a third year of the pandemic. Some are questioning whether previous precautions like lockdowns and social distancing are still best to keep companies running and workers safe, or whether the new variant allows for a more tailored approach.

“We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said recently.

Government policies are shifting. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that it was “much more relevant” to focus on COVID-19 hospitalizations instead of total cases because many infections were asymptomatic, and he was more worried about potential strains on hospital systems.

The CDC has halved its recommended isolation time for asymptomatic infections to five days from 10, a move that raised criticism (and inspired memes), but Fauci said the agency may revise its guidelines yet again.

And the Biden administration is signaling that it may change the definition of “fully vaccinated” to require booster shots, a prospect that could affect what 140 million Americans can and cannot do in public.

That leaves companies with a lot to consider. Some, like Goldman Sachs, are changing their vaccination policies. The Wall Street bank will require a booster shot for all employees and visitors entering its offices beginning Feb. 1.

Employers will also need to rethink their policies if they want to bring infected workers back to the office more quickly. This makes testing the next big issue, with the administration scrambling to increase supply amid shortages.

Some big firms have been buying tests in bulk to give to employees, but smaller companies may not have similar capacity.

Deciding whom to prioritize for tests, who pays for them and how to verify the results will bedevil many boardrooms in the coming months.

CHERISS MAY/THE NEW YORK TIMES Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he is worried about strained hospital systems.