Last week, I wrote about a fourth wave of the Covid-19 virus that may force companies to reconsider their return-to-the-office plans. Unfortunately, this is happening at a much faster pace.
Apple was one of the few tech companies reluctant to fully embrace remote work. Given its preference for in-office work, it was disconcerting that the iPhone giant announced it would delay its strict plans for workers to return to the office because of the sudden surge of the Delta variant. The tech giant wanted its staff back to the office at least three days a week by early September. The deadline, because of a growing wave of cases, was pushed back to October, at the earliest.
At the time, I wrote, “Depending upon how the new wave plays out, Apple’s decision could cause other companies to reconsider their return-to-work programs as well. Corporate executives won’t want to be the lone holdouts and expose their staff to the virus. If a bellwether, such as Apple, says that they are concerned, by virtue of their decision, it’s likely that others will follow suit.”
This week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) changed its opinion on masks, recommending that some fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors, if they live in locations with high levels of cases. With this new announcement, companies will be forced to make tough decisions: take a wait-and-see approach, while continuing with their plans to get people back into an office setting, or putting it on hold until there is greater clarity of the virus.
Companies are starting to push back on their prior plans for workers to return to the office. In light of the new Delta variant strain, business executives are also calling for mandatory vaccinations.
In a company blog post, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai laid out his revised return-to-work plans with a call for vaccinations, in light of the recent surge of the Delta variant. “Getting vaccinated is one of the most important ways to keep ourselves and our communities healthy in the months ahead,” he said in the memo. Pichai then shared his plans.
- First, anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated. We’re rolling this policy out in the U.S. in the coming weeks and will expand to other regions in the coming months. The implementation will vary according to local conditions and regulations, and will not apply until vaccines are widely available in your area. You’ll get guidance from your local leads about how this will affect you, and we’ll also share more details on an exceptions process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other protected reasons.
- Second, we are extending our global voluntary work-from-home policy through October 18. We are excited that we’ve started to re-open our campuses and encourage Googlers who feel safe coming to sites that have already opened to continue doing so. At the same time, we recognize that many Googlers are seeing spikes in their communities caused by the Delta variant and are concerned about returning to the office. This extension will allow us time to ramp back into work, while providing flexibility for those who need it. We’ll continue watching the data carefully and let you know at least 30 days in advance before transitioning into our full return-to-office plans. For those of you with special circumstances, we will soon be sharing expanded temporary work options that will allow you to apply to work from home through the end of 2021. We’re also extending Expanded Carer’s Leave through the end of the year for parents and caregivers.”
Twitter reported that it closed its San Francisco and New York offices due to the recent increase in Covid-19 cases. The social media company acted quickly. It was only about two weeks ago when the company reopened its offices. In a company statement, Twitter said, “After careful consideration of the CDC’s updated guidelines, and in light of current conditions, Twitter has made the decision to close our opened offices in New York and San Francisco, as well as pause future office reopenings, effective immediately.” The company will monitor the situation.
Tech giant Facebook said on Wednesday that it will now require U.S. workers returning to its offices to be vaccinated. Lori Goler, vice president of people at Facebook, said in a statement. “As our offices reopen, we will be requiring anyone coming to work at any of our U.S. campuses to be vaccinated.” Goler added, “How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations.”
Companies have little choice now. Their hands are tied. This new disturbing development will make it exceedingly harder to convince workers to return to the office. There will be a real palpable fear of catching the new strain.
Studies have already shown that employees have been contemplating quitting if they can’t remain working remotely. Many have already quit in the “Great Resignation.” The recent mask recommendations would offer a compelling reason to resist their company’s plans to go back to an office, which would be hard for managers to disagree with.
After about a year and half of working from home, it would feel uncomfortable masking up, commuting into a big city, going into an office building and working in close contact with others all day long. The new fear may prompt even more health-related rules and regulations at the office.
It’s not an environment conducive to a pleasant working experience. Employees would understandably be afraid. Corporations would be open to liabilities for pushing people to possibly endanger themselves. This trend may continue until we see a significant decline in cases.
Source: Forbes
