Three Factors Impacting Return-to-the-Office

An article in the San Francisco Business Times today listed the three main factors impacting the return to the office. #1, Covid uncertainty…companies have announced, tehn cancelled, then announced again only to cancel again plans to bring employees back to the office. “Experts say they fully expect additional variants to follow Omicron, which is keeping many businesses in a state of limbo.” #2, the Hiring Market…”Whether it’s Covid-19 safety concerns, work-life balance issues, child care needs or a combination of several factors, many just don’t want to return to the office – even just a few days a week as part of a hybrid setup.”  #2  The Office Isn’t The Same…”average U.S. office capacity reached 25% in October, which was the highest point since prior to the pandemic…the number of employees spending a at least one day at the office increased, but employees were spending less time in the office on the average.”  So you want to give employees flexibility in deciding which days they will come to the office while at the same time trying to get synergy with everyone being there at the same time. One compromise is designating one day a week as ‘the’ office day and then allowing employees to pick their other days on their own. Oh, was  so simple before Covid!