The Return to Work: Conditions Apply

Many companies have resumed working from the office, but not all employees are prepared for it or are happy about it.

• As the Covid vaccination rates increase globally and the case counts are decreasing, companies are slowly asking their employees to return to office, if just for a few days a week.
• Two years of working from home has definitely had an impact on many people and their behavior around work. Their daily habits associated with a work day have drastically changed.
• To ease the transition of returning to work, many companies have offered incentives such as free lunches, flexible working options, team-building activities and more.
• But studies have shown that women and people of color are dreading returning to the office as they experience many microaggressions at the workplace from the more privileged male colleagues.
• The remote working option is also looked at with skepticism, as many employees feel they will be at a disadvantage over employees who are working from office and are in the boss’ sight.
• On the other hand, those who have resumed working from the office and are doing daily commutes, have realized that inflation and rising costs are hitting their wallets hard.