When Should Offices Reopen?

A Wait & See Year: Return to the workplace is unclear as more employees push reopening dates to the fall, waiting on vaccine rollouts

While many nationwide employers initially had high hopes of a quick vaccine rollout in early 2021, those hopes were dashed seeing the large scale effort required, the limited number of vaccines and other factors that have slowed down vaccine distribution. Therefore, employers have also halted plans to have millions of workers return back to their jobs in offices for the near future, with many companies refusing to set specific dates. It has become more of a “wait and see” plan with remote work continuing from 2020 for businesses all over the country, including large employers in Silicon Valley, New York, large metropolitan areas and more.

Some employers are pushing return dates back to September. Google had already planned for a delay last year, pushing return to offices in the summer of 2021.

As workers are able to do their jobs remotely, many have moved from expensive apartments and homes close to their jobs to less expensive areas. Two popular destinations include Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas.

These delays go across industries. For example, Qurate Retail Inc., the parent company to Ballard Designs, QVC and HSN, changed its initial May return to offices to September for all locations in Philadelphia, Atlanta and other metropolitan cities. Others like TechnologyAdvice, a marketing firm in Nashville, Tennessee, have revamped plans from a return to office to a hybrid schedule for either remote or in-office work.

Large companies such as United Parcel Service Inc., based in Atlanta, and financial-services firm Fidelity Investments Inc., based in Boston, have not yet set return dates, allowing many employees to continue to work from home remotely and are using a “wait and see” approach.

Salesforce, a San Francisco Giant, Leads the Exodus as More Companies Switch to Remote and Flex Work Options

The cloud computing technology software giant, Salesforce, has announced that most of its employees will work remotely part or full time after the pandemic

Covid-19 has had some lasting impact on how business is done as large companies like Salesforce are adopting a permanent shift away from office work to either flex (part time in the office and part time at home) and remote work options. Another effect of this change is also a reduction in real estate used by the company, decreasing its overall footprint.

Famous for occupying the tallest building in San Francisco called the Salesforce Tower and as the largest private employer in the city, Salesforce occupies similar buildings in large cities such as Chicago, New York and Indianapolis.

Salesforce is giving its 9,000 Bay Area workers three options to choose from: flex, remote or in office work. Flex work, which applies to most workers, involves coming into the office two to three days a week and working remotely the rest of the time; remote work involves working remotely full time and never coming into the office; and finally in office work is coming into the office every business day.

In an ever-connected world, Salesforce advocates for adjusting to employee needs such as childcare and the ability to work eight-hour daily schedules in a more flexible manner.

“We’re not going back to the way things were. I don’t believe that we’ll keep every space in every city that we’re in, including San Francisco.”

— Brent Hyder, Chief People Officer

With over 54,000 employees worldwide, Salesforce is making a change that is bound to influence other companies as well. This change affects existing workspaces that are being redesigned from being a “sea of desks” to more collaborative spaces, according to Brent Hyder. Employees can do a lot of work independently and remotely. New company office mock ups include more of cafe-style seating, open air conference spaces and private areas, with social distancing and clean spaces taking a priority.

The new plan entails 65% of employees coming in only one to three days a week — an increase from 40% before the pandemic. Additional employees would be working completely remotely.

While some companies have resisted the change to remote work such as Netflix, citing it affects company culture, work morale and productivity, others have embraced it. Being a cloud computing software technology company, Salesforce is able to transition to employing a more remote workforce more easily than most. More and more Americans are also adopting digital commerce swiftly from ordering groceries online to buying cars and getting services for a variety of needs, showing a permanent shift to e-commerce and digital platforms for many everyday activities.

Remote Work Expected to Persist in the Aftermath of the Pandemic

Remote work is here to stay with 33% of the American workforce continuing remote work, while another third has returned to work at the office.

Gallup has been tracking remote work by Americans over the course of the year through various polls and surveys. Their data reveals that many Americans have returned to working in the office or on site since September. Many are unconquered about exposure to COVID-19. Concern has gone down due to extensive cleaning measures in place, social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment.

Many workers want to continue to work remotely. In some companies, this is possible for services such as customer service that can be done remotely.

A few large employers like Google have taken the pre-emptive measure of working remotely through mid 2021, according to the WSJ. This affects the roughly 200,000 employees and contract workers at the company.

Remote Work to Persist In the Aftermath of the Pandemic

Remote work is most likely here to stay for the well educated, well paid workforce that can operate digitally. This change may also become permanent on some level for some companies where certain roles can be done remotely and in other cases, a hybrid of working at home and in office/on site. Some companies are considering a hybrid of remote and on-site with on-site work for three consecutive days and remote work for two days. Others are considering a shift to a four-day work model entirely. For companies that offer extensive customer service support on the phone and by email, working remotely can be very suitable. This can also cut down on office costs. Remote work for workers that work online is more feasible than for those with physical hands-on jobs on site.

The downsides of a more remote work force can be fewer face to face interactions, and less of a community. Some companies like Netflix are eager to return to full time work on site. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said that working from home does not have any positive effects and makes debating ideas harder. At the same time, the company’s 8,600 employees do not have to return to the office until most of them had received an approved coronavirus vaccine. Vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer are now seeking FDA approval and will become available shortly to the general public.

Despite the return to office with the city’s approval, New York’s famously vibrant Manhattan is still operating at low capacity with many office buildings unoccupied and workers reluctant to come back in. Businesses that need employees on site from factories to restaurants and salons have struggled with changing demand and risks of outbreaks even with plexiglass barriers and other protections in place.