We’re Headed For A Real Clash.’
AS THE PACE OF COVID-19 VACCINATIONS accelerates and states loosen restrictions, employers have slowly begun calling their employees back to the workplace, with the pace expected to pick up sharply over the next few months. But what might have been a hopeful sign that life is returning to normalcy has instead become a source of friction as some workers push back. They are fearful of getting infected, worried about how to care for kids still learning remotely and resisting going back to the 9-to-5 in-office grind after tasting the flexibility of working from home.
How these conflicts play out could define the shape of the employment landscape not just in the near term but for years to come, experts say, as employers and workers begin negotiating the terms of re-engagement. For now, they are oceans apart: While 83 percent of CEOs want employees to return in person, only 10 percent of employees want to come back full time, according to a study by the Best Practice Institute.
“This is going to be a major flash point,” says Melissa Swift of the management consulting firm Korn Ferry. “There is a belief in our culture that we’ve proven that most jobs can be done virtually. But that’s not the belief within the leadership of organizations, so we’re headed for a real clash.”
Workplace safety is a major concern. Although all adults will now be eligible for vaccination by April 19 under President Joe Biden’s newly accelerated timeline, the nation is a long way from herd immunity: Nearly two-thirds of Americans still have not
