Leaders May Need To Reevaluate Their January Return-to-office Plans

Although many large companies are eagerly preparing to bringing workers back into the office in January, looming pandemic uncertainty could cause increased turnover.

Corporate America is preparing to bring workers back into the office early next year, which is at odds with uncertainty over the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Companies such as Wells Fargo, American Express, and Google are expected to bring employees back into the office in January after plans to return after Labor Day in September were foiled due to the Delta variant.

Business leaders and employees are already butting heads over this next era of working, as many workers have grown to prefer the flexibility of choosing their work environment.

However, employers believe with vaccines widely available and other aspects of life returning to some sense of normalcy, bringing workers back into the office is the next logical step.

“There’s a reckoning coming on what the new normal is going to be and we’re reaching a point where we’re going to have to define it—if not in January, then soon,” said Mark Royal, a senior director at consultancy Korn Ferry Advisory. “And it’s likely to require some adjustments on the part of both companies and individuals in terms of expectations.”

Still, some companies are remaining agile in their return-to-office approach. For instance, Apple recently delayed its office return date for corporate employees to February 1. Google also revealed it would give employees a 30-day notice for when they are expected to come back into the workplace.

Others like Monday.com, which creates collaborative software, have postponed their return until September of 2022 to ensure employees have “enough time to make plans and adjust their lives.”