How Are Businesses Bringing Employees Back Post Covid?
The end of the pandemic seems to be in sight, with plenty of people gearing up to return to living as they used to. As vaccination rates increase there has been a push by businesses to start transitioning employees back to working in the office, with many having a common set target to start bringing employees back in day to day.
Delta Variant Changes Plans
As the Delta variant spreads and continues to affect both unvaccinated people as well as those who are fully vaccinated, plans to transition from working at home back into the office have been put on hold. While there has been an uptick in the number of people becoming partially or fully vaccinated, the Delta variant continues to spread rampantly through the already vaccinated community. This is what has made things difficult for people and companies around the country to transition to normal living, as the new uncertainty has put people at risk once again.
The Hybrid Model
There has also been a great deal of pushback from employees who are starting to advocate for a hybrid working model, where working from home part time is combined with working in the office part time. This model intends to maintain balance between work and home life, and also to protect the personal safety of employees. Some countries around the world have seen certain levels of success with this hybrid model, but the number of companies that will actually utilize this work model remains to be seen.
Steven Hatfield of Deloitte’s Global Future of Work Team had this to say about back to the workplace strategies: “I would argue that for business leaders it’s a pivotal moment…they need to put their employees at the center of workplace strategy.”
Status Quo Not as Appealing
Many workers have stated that the push by businesses to return to the pre-Covid status quo is not good enough. Covid-19 has changed how people live their lives and the way they balance them between work and home. Returning to a 40 hour work week at the office on top of commuting time is not as inviting as it once was . This is why a number of employees have decided to pursue other jobs instead; jobs that offer remote work. O Or workers have simply refused to work under the previously established conditions.
Big Business Pushes Return to Work Plans
Small business is not the only sector subject to this pushback against returning to work. Industry giants like Amazon and McDonald’s have also been forced to push the September employee return as well. This trend is expected to continue with other businesses in all sectors.
A number of companies across the country have already decided to cater to the wishes and needs of their employees, and still provide remote work as an option. However, big corporations have other things they have to consider before allowing the same.
