Fuggedaboutit! Most New Yorkers will not be returning to full-time work at the office anytime soon.
Less than half of Manhattan’s 1 million office workers will resume the hustle and bustle of personal work in September, according to a new study conducted by the Partnership for New York City.
Although the COVID-19 vaccine has begun to flatten the curve, only 22% of the city’s largest companies – including employers in the finance and insurance, real estate, law, consulting and media sectors – will require employees to return to the workplace in time. according to the survey.
About 66% of Big Apple’s big business leaders reported plans to adopt a hybrid model in the coming months, which would allow employees to work remotely and in the office on different days throughout the week.
So far, only 10% of the city’s administrative employees have returned to their workplaces since March.
The results of the study revealed that the real estate sector has been “the most aggressive” in bringing its employees back, as more than half (51%) are working in the office and 82% are expected to return in September.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., told the Wall Street Journal that he predicts that “a large proportion” of chief executive officers will require employees to work permanently in the office.
“Most of us learn through a learning system, seeing mistakes, going [on] travel, how to deal with a customer, how do you deal with the problem, ”he said in a recent Journal survey of leading entrepreneurs’ ideas about post-COVID work practices.
“It is difficult to instill culture, character and all those things … it is very difficult to build and develop a deeper relationship at Zoom.”
David Henshall, CEO of Citrix Systems Inc., however, noted that a return to the office does not necessarily mean a return to “normal” pre-pandemic work routines.
“You will still be subject to personal protective equipment, social distance, discussions about mandatory vaccination or not, travel restrictions,” said Henshall in part.
“All of these things will keep the office environment, the good parts of the office environment, still somewhere out of reach for a period of time.”
In all industries, only 11 companies will require workers to be vaccinated before returning to their brick and mortar posts.
On the other hand, 61% of senior executives said they will not require returning employees to be immunized; however, 37% of these employers will actively encourage workers to inject.
About a third (31%) of employers have yet to decide whether to require vaccinations for employees who return to the office, the researchers found.
As a means of encouraging the return to commuting to their cubicles, whether full or partial, 24% of companies plan to offer employees at least one benefit related to COVID-19.
Benefits included subsidized public and private transit, on-site COVID-19 testing, paid time off for vaccination appointments, free or reduced-cost lunches and changes to the workplace, including improved facilities and additional private offices.