Future of Remote Work Remains Unclear as Many Workers Return to Their Offices

For thousands of workers around the country, Monday was the day to return to the office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Inside Edition’s Ann Mercogliano took a commuter train from suburban New Jersey to New York, and the jolt back to what was once normal felt odd to some.

In many offices, it was like a time capsule. Calendars still open to March 2020 were accompanied by newspapers with headlines about the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race.

About half of leaders say their companies want workers back in the office full-time in the next year, according to a survey conducted by Microsoft, which surveyed 31,102 workers around the world, CNBC reported.

But in a strong employment market, experts told CNBC that companies could see ramifications without clearly explaining when employees should be in the office and why. 

A new Pew Research Center survey found that 60% of workers with jobs that can be done from home say they’d like to work from home most or all of the time when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, if given the choice.

There is also a split in return-to-work attitudes between executives and non-executives, according to research conducted by Slack, which found that 44% of executives working remotely said that they would prefer to work from the office every day, while just 17% of employees said the same, CNBC reported. 

Many are concerned about returning to the office with COVID-19 still raging, notes CEO Magazine. Anxiety levels and fear about returning to the office may differ among individual team members.

CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen says that people should take into consideration several factors, such as their own personal risk, the levels of COVID-19 in their community and what safety precautions workplaces are taking.

“Someone who is healthy, vaccinated and boosted, and in a low-transmission area can probably take part in all work activities with very low risk of severe illness. On the other hand, another person who is medically vulnerable and in an area with higher Covid-19 levels may want to take additional precautions,” Wen said.

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