Returning to the Office in 2021: Key Safety Factors for Employers to Consider

With vaccine administration ramping up, many U.S. office-based employers are turning their attention to planning for their employees’ return to work. Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently ordered a lifting of the statewide mask mandate and business occupancy restrictions effective March 10, accelerating the timeline for Texas employers to make critical workplace decisions.

Understandably, many employers prefer to have most employees working together in a shared space to increase opportunities for collaborating, supporting the corporate culture, maintaining productivity, enabling talent recruitment and retention and a host of other reasons. Yet returning to the office post-pandemic will likely look very different. Now, increased flexibility is the expectation, and support for teleworking has grown, as a PwC survey of executives and office workers revealed last year. The survey found that most office workers (83%) want to work from home at least once a week, the majority (72%) would like to work remotely at least twice a week, and over half of employers (55%) anticipate offering at least a once-a-week remote working option long after the pandemic ends. Nevertheless, the study also revealed a significant need to continue using office space for collaboration and community building.