If your organization sent people home at the beginning of the pandemic – as 70% of the economy did – the return plans have probably changed a dozen times. Confusion remains for those organizations which have not fully returned to work.
Less than 20% of all employees worked from home (WFH) or remotely when the pandemic hit. Organizations reacted swiftly. Currently nearly 50% are still working from home. Many who do now are college graduates in white-collar jobs. Many more employees lost their jobs as retail, hospitality, and travel basically closed down. Women in all occupations were particularly hard-hit, especially as elder and child care options closed down too. Lower income and minorities were hit harder than Whites.
Companies say that productivity of WFH/remote workers is about equal to past productivity now. However, studies show that such workers are averaging three additional work hours per day. Worse, 65% of such employees feel less connected to their work and coworkers. This is usually a predictor of turnover increasing.
A recent McKinsey survey of CEOs indicates that going forward 40% expect employees will be on-site 21-50% of the workweek and another 40% expect 51-80% on-site time. Yet surveys of workers show almost a third want to work remotely full-time.
Employees are confused and often upset as well. Many, especially in big tech, felt promises were made that they could work remotely long-term. Others still do not have child or elder care options or worry about health issues. Some feel that their needs and concerns are being ignored in any planning. Others faced sudden, unexpected demands to return to the work site with little notice. Two-thirds of employees surveyed say they have not had any information on return plans or only […]
PANDEMIC RECOVERY: NEXT STEPS
PANDEMIC UPDATES – WHAT’S NEXT
One year down, what’s your next consideration?
Vaccinations
Many of my clients and other businesses are trying to decide what to do about vaccinations. Should you go to mandatory for everyone? The EEOC announced last year that this was possible under the laws they administer so long as companies complied with the disability and equal opportunity laws. They deferred to the CDC for further guidance which has not come.
Legal advice has been confused, to be polite. There are firms which say it is legal to make it mandatory, others say it is for certain types of work, and those which say it is not. The negative view is tied to the way the vaccines were approved – under emergency use authorizations, which prohibit anyone from being forced to take them. There are a few lawsuits against employers for mandating the vaccines but these will take a long time to yield answers you can use. There is also legislation pending in several states either to allow it to be mandatory or to forbid it. I tend to think that it may be illegal under federal law, but as usual most small organizations will not be targets.
If you are still considering this topic, ask yourself these questions:
What is the business case for mandating vaccination?
Does this apply to all employees or only certain categories?
What do your values and culture support?
Will you encourage vaccinations if you do not mandate it?
How will you explain the need and either decision to your staff?
Encouraging employees and their families to get vaccinated does help if you do not mandate it. This will make returning to work easier if you have people who are not currently there. It supports the goal of getting the US […]
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