The morning that Alexia Layne-Lomon returned to the office for the first time since the pandemic began, she woke up anxiously. His stomach was sick. Going to work, once a meaningless daily routine, now felt strange and risky.
Layne-Lomon, 38, of Roslindale, Massachusetts, is one of the millions of employees across the country who hastily transitioned to remote work last spring. A few weeks ago, she returned to her building to train a new employee at the anti-poverty agency, where she is director of development and grants.
The day was filled with reminders of how much has changed since the last time she was in her office.
Layne-Lomon is not yet qualified for the Covid-19 vaccination, so instead of using public transport as she used to, she opted to drive to work. Inside his building, everyone wore masks, elevators had capacity limits to allow social distance and signs of traffic flow were placed to reduce crowding in the corridors.
But when she got to her floor, Layne-Lomon had a familiar vision. Two co-workers with whom she has communicated only virtually since the beginning of the pandemic were there.
“It was good to see them and have that social moment and a breath of relief,” she said, adding that she had to restrain herself from hugging her colleagues. “It was like, ‘Hey, look at us, we’re all still people! We’re not just these little machines!'”
As the office spaces that the pandemic has closed begin to open, not all employees are eager to return. With health concerns and rusty social skills to preserve the new work-life balance that some discovered when their commuting disappeared, many are reluctant to give up their remote work settings.
“We focused a lot on what was lost last year,” said Vaile Wright, clinical psychologist and senior director of health innovation at the American Psychological Association. “Now we’re at a point where it’s like, ‘I’ve lost a lot this year, but what have I gained?’ I think that, particularly when it comes to work, there have been a lot of gains. “
Not everyone had the luxury of working from home. But for those who have, the ability to throw a load of laundry while working, spend more time with the family, or eat more homemade meals has been a positive factor in a challenging year.
“I feel like I can take care of myself better and be able to do that,” said Brittney Dales, 27, a legal secretary who lives in San Bernardino, California. Not driving to work saved her mileage on her car and money on gas, and gave her the opportunity to schedule appointments with doctors and dentists more easily after work, as well as taking her dog for a walk at lunch break.
Like Layne-Lomon, Dales recently made several trips back to her office, but she doesn’t know when – or if – she is expected to return regularly. His visits to work were stimulating compared to the loneliness of working in his room.
“The other day, I was in the office and one of the lawyers was talking to me, the printer was working and there were all these background noises going on,” she said. “I was unable to draw my attention to the focus, because I am so used to a quiet place now that a little noise – even if it was not so loud – took me away.”
Why vaccines don’t eliminate all anxiety
Many companies have already welcomed workers. According to data released on March 29, 24.2% of employees in 10 major cities in the United States were going to their offices, according to Kastle Systems, a managed security services provider for 3,600 buildings worldwide. parents.
The number is expected to grow as more people are vaccinated. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a May 3 target date for some 80,000 city officials to return to their offices. On the other side of the country, Microsoft has started bringing back some employees in a “smooth opening” of its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, Target Corp., anticipating a permanent combination of hybrid and in-house work, has reduced its corporate space by a third.
Whatever companies decide, experts say, they must recognize that Covid-19 vaccines may not eliminate employee anxiety.
A survey released last month by the American Psychological Association found that 49 percent of adults are uncomfortable with returning to personal interactions once the pandemic has passed. Vaccination status has not affected this: 48% of those who have already been vaccinated say they are also uncomfortable with personal interactions.
This may be partly due to the uncertainty that remains about the vaccines, Wright said, even as encouraging evidence has emerged indicating that they offer protection for at least six months.
“We know that we have effective vaccines, but we still don’t know for how long. We still don’t know how effective they are against variants. We still don’t have vaccines for children, ”she said. “There is still a lot to discover.”
Safety in the workplace is a special concern. In a survey of 1,000 adults conducted in February by the technology company for the Envoy workplace, 66% of employees said they were concerned about their health when they returned to the workplace.
Schedules are also on the minds of employees: 48% said they wanted to work on a face-to-face and remote hybrid schedule, with 41% saying they were willing to accept a small cut in pay to make it happen.
The unknowns about what office returns will look like, from schedules to security precautions, have shaken employees, said Brad Klontz, founder of the Institute of Financial Psychology and associate professor of practice in financial psychology at Heider College of Business at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Employers must be prepared for anxiety among their workers, he said. Those who were already prone to anxiety may have struggled more during the pandemic, and those who were not may have experienced anxiety for the first time in the past year.
“Try to find someone who hasn’t slept a night,” he said. “There will be lasting effects.”
How employers and employees can make it easier
Undoubtedly, the pandemic presented challenges to mental health. From August to February, the proportion of adults with symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder during the previous seven days increased from 36.4 percent to 41.5 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The return to the office does not have to worsen these feelings, experts say. Both employers and employees can take steps to alleviate concerns.
“Accept that there will be some anxiety.”
“Accept that there will be some anxiety,” said Klontz. “Accepting is really important rather than trying to fight it.”
He recommended that employers be flexible in the beginning in terms of expectations.
“Understand that this will be easier for some people and more difficult for others, especially people who were perhaps most affected by it,” he said, referring to those who lost loved ones to Covid-19, had or are still dealing with persistent coronavirus health problems. “Normalize the fact that it can be challenging. Say, ‘Please come and talk to me if there is anything we can do to make it easier for you.'”
And after such a long period without seeing each other, everyone must be prepared for interactions to feel a little affected at first, Wright said.
“Some of our social skills have probably atrophied a little, so there will be a strange little transition, where we will try to figure out how to engage in small talk, but also how to find the right words in the right phrases and ask the right questions in a way that we haven’t done, “she said.
“Working from home was exhausting at first. Then we got into our routines and found that out,” she added. “I expected this to happen here.”
She urged employers not to take a “one size fits all” approach to bringing employees back, recognizing that some may need accommodations tailored to their mental and emotional needs. She also suggested that employers be as transparent and communicative as possible about reopening plans to reduce employee uncertainty before they return.
The bottom line, Wright said, is that both employees and employers must be open-minded.
“We need to get out of this structure so that things can go back to the way they were before, because I don’t think it’s necessary,” she said.