Will working remotely be an option for good?
Omicron is slamming doors on some offices
The omicron variant has thrown America’s great return to the office into disarray – perhaps for months.
Most companies that had notified employees they would need to come back to the office at least part time early next year have pushed back those plans or are considering doing so because of the latest COVID-19 spike, according to human resources experts and surveys.
Among those slamming the brakes on office reopenings are household names such as Apple, Ford Motor and Fidelity Investments.
“Most executives have just abandoned the return to the office” until omicron no longer poses a health threat, says Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economics professor who has studied the work-from-home trend and spoken to officials at several hundred companies.
Twenty-two percent of corporate leaders have delayed their reopening plans, and another 34% haven’t yet made a decision, according to a recent Gartner survey of 129 executives who attended a company webinar on return to the office and vaccination mandates. A third said omicron has had no impact on their plans.
Meanwhile, just 5% of firms that already reopened their workplaces are reversing course and sending people home, the Gartner survey shows.
“In general, we are seeing those that have already brought people back to the office are continuing with those plans while keeping a close eye on the situabeing
tion,” says Bill Armstrong, vice president of Global Upside, a consulting firm.
By contrast, he adds, “Many of those that had plans to bring people back in 2022 have at least for the moment put those plans on hold.”
Worker occupancy of offices in 10 large cities hit a pandemic high of 40.6% the week ending Dec. 1 before edging down to a still-elevated 39.5% the following week, according to Kastle Systems, which tracks employee swipes of devices such as key cards.
Kastle Chairman Mark Ein says he was expecting a leap in occupancy to above 50% after New Year’s Day, but that’s no longer the case.
“A lot of companies were using that target date,” he says. “Companies have tended to plan return to work around milestone dates.”
Omicron has proven more contagious than the delta variant and the original virus, but it has shown signs of
less virulent.
Apple said recently it’s pushing off its return to the office, slated for Feb. 1.
“We are delaying the start of our hybrid work pilot to a date yet to be determined,” company CEO Tim Cook wrote in a memo to employees obtained by Bloomberg. “Our offices remain open and many of our colleagues are coming in regularly, including our teams in Greater China and elsewhere.”
Google, Ford and Meta, formerly known as Facebook, are letting workers postpone their returns. Lyft, the ride-hailing company, told staffers they won’t be required to return to offices until 2023.
Fidelity Investments closed its offices in Boston and elsewhere in New England amid the COVID-19 surge. And JPMorgan Chase is letting employees, many of whom had come back, work from home at least through the holidays.