Workers Are Going Back to the Office

This time it’s for real.

February 25, 2022

Employees in the office

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Companies are once again setting return-to-office (RTO) dates, following the recent drop in COVID-19 cases as the latest variant wanes, and this time, employers are confident these RTO deadlines will stick. Most companies are expecting workers to be in the office at least part of the time, reports the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

“With Omicron we realized that we needed to pivot from thinking about coming back into the office when COVID vanishes,” Sean Woodroffe, the head of human resources at TIAA, told the Times. “We recognized we have to pivot to how do you responsibly cope with COVID?”

“There’s a very strong feeling we’re coming out on the other side,” Keith McFall, the chief operating officer of the staffing provider Express Employment Professionals, told the Times.

Offices are around 30% occupied, according to security firm Kastle Systems, and a report last month from the Partnership for New York City found that the majority of employers surveyed expected daily attendance in their offices to top 50% on an average weekday by late March.

While employers are eager to welcome back their workers to the office in person, some employees aren’t as eager. While some are still wary of the virus and/or take care of young children who can’t be vaccinated or the immunocompromised, many don’t want to give up the convenience and benefits remote work offers them.

One worker interviewed by the Journal says that although he liked his company, once it signaled a return to office was imminent, he found a remote job that fit his lifestyle better, and it allowed him to move his family to Puerto Rico, where they plan to live for at least two years.

The Journal also interviewed Aaron Johnson, president of Automatic Payroll Systems, based in Louisiana, who says that people work best together in-person, and he has expected most of his 165 employees to report to the office at least a few days a week. Last year 30% of his staff turned over, which is twice the typical rate, and many of his employees took jobs at companies based in California, Texas and New York. They were able to get large raises by staying in lower-cost Louisiana and working from home.

Still, employers are optimistic and are eager to see their employees in person, even if it’s a portion of them and on certain days.

“You slowly work your way back,” said McFall. “There’s a very high level of optimism that we’re getting through this.”

Are you looking to hire? NACS has conducted extensive research on what people want in jobs to help retailers communicate the context of jobs by showcasing how they tie into what applicants care about most and what they treasure from previous jobs. Additionally, NACS Magazine dived into how to hire the Gen Z workforce—by understanding what this generation wants from an employer.

The pandemic has increased anxiety and tension for everyone, especially those on the frontlines. NACS Magazine discusses this serious topic in “Mental Health in the Workplace” in the September 2021 issue.

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