I've been going in 1-2 days a week since late fall. Part of my job is patient facing so there is a real need to be there occasionally. I've also been training/supervising two new people and have needed some hands on time with them.
We still have strict prevention measures in place. No more than 1 person per 100 square feet, masks on unless you're alone in your office or eating. I'm actually surprised those requirements haven't been lightened with vaccinations (everyone in my division at least has been fully vaccinated for months). I guess they have to write policy with the assumption that not everyone has been vaccinated. They've already said it will be required for incoming university students this fall and may be required for staff in the future.
As of next week, I will have my own office and plan to go in 3 days per week. We'll see how I like that, may add or subtract days from there.
I don't think we'll ever return to the expectation that you must be in the office 5 days per week. Even before COVID it was something we all did occasionally and now we have better set-ups. There is no expectation that we return any equipment that was brought home last year, they're just being replaced in the office.
DH has only worked remote for the time we had to isolate due to a potential exposure. He has been in the office 100% otherwise, since last March.
My company basically threw us all out last March, and allowed those of us that needed it for work to take home company assets with manager approval. I ended up taking home a crapton of gear, and it all took up most of one wall in our spare bedroom.
Since last March, I worked both at home and onsite as dictated by my tasks. Some require equipment that literally won't fit at home.
I spent several months last fall working almost 100% on site due to some tech issues, before local case numbers spiked, and they threw us all out again. For a few months, I had to get senior management approval to go onsite when my tasks specifically needed it.
About a month ago, the building began its return to work plan. I was in the first wave, and have been onsite full time since then. My spare room has been freed up! Some folks work a hybrid schedule, some full time, it's a mix. All managers are expected to spend at least 1-2 days in the office, I think on the principle of showing that it is safe. Next phase in in about one month, and they hope to have about 50% of the workforce here on any given day. There will be another phase or two later on.
I requested to be here full time when they floated the idea of the return to work. I think most folks who are in this first wave requested it.
ETA: Both DH and my office highly encourage vaccination, but do not require it. Both employers hosted multiple onsite vaccination clinics.
Post by dutchgirl678 on May 4, 2021 11:36:43 GMT -5
I am WFH and will continue to do so. DH is WFH since the pandemic. They haven't made any plans yet to go back but I am hoping that by July most of his coworkers will be vaccinated and they will be allowed to work in the office again, whether it is a few days a week or FT. The main issue is that he works in a building that was newly renovated right before COVID. It is an open office concept high-rise building in downtown. Windows don't open and they haven't updated AC systems, I don't think. But if everyone is vaccinated it should be ok.
I am looking forward to reclaiming my home office, and being home alone (with the cat) for extended periods of time.
My husband’s work announced a few months ago they weren’t reopening the office until September and may reassess. He is thrilled to be working at home and it sounds like he might not ever go back to working in person full time.
His office is in pretty prime real estate downtown so I wouldn’t be surprised if they give some of it up to save money since they have been impressed with how seamless the remote work as been. I do wonder what would happen if he goes back part time in person with the parking situation. They subsidize the monthly rate (we did pay some) and the day rate is around $30. I guess we’d have to price out what makes the most sense. It seems silly to pay for a lot of days he won’t be using but it might make sense $$.
I would like him to return to in person work a couple days a week. I have worked from home for years and I miss the quiet and being able to use what was my craft room during the day. It does make a lot of other things easier though, he’s making dinner more and doing more around the house without any commute and being able to remotely monitor more things.
DH is WFH since the pandemic but the firm is talking about phasing in a return to the office starting at the end of the month. Which is totally reasonable with our COVID numbers rising and our region very likely moving back from a phase 3 to a phase 2. Some of the employees are talking that they want a hybrid at the very least, or to continue to WFH at this point in time.
I'll be fully remote due to a team restructuring. But can go into the office once in awhile starting in June. It'll be a gradual reopening from June until sept.
4 at a time in the elevator, moving to hotelling instead of offices, only a certain number in the office at once, masks at all times, etc.
Post by eponinepontmercy on May 4, 2021 12:28:25 GMT -5
I found out today that my company's intention is to have everyone come back once it's safe to do so without social distancing and constant mask-wearing, but they aren't going to require people to get vaccinated. I'll be surprised if that September 1 date doesn't get pushed out again.
We are about to start looking for a house this summer, and we are going to have to look for something a little bigger than we intended. DH's job is 100% remote so he was always going to need an office space. If I'm going to WFH three days a week I'm going to need some space, too.
I started going back 1 day a week mid-April, so I think today is my 4th day on campus. We are supposed to gradually add days and then on July 6th, we'll all be back in the office full time with no remote option. They have said they will consider letting some people in some jobs have some WFH days at some point in the future, which is fairly vague so who knows when that will be. It sounds like they are thinking 1 day per week or less, so nobody will be working mostly from home. I think there are mixed reactions. Personally I am not thrilled about the idea of going back 5 days a week, but I haven't totally minded being back on the days that I've been there. I'm in the office right now, and I've been in a conference room by myself with my (personal) laptop for the last 3.5 hours, though, which seems incredibly silly since I could be doing the same thing at home. I am struggling a bit with resources while going back and forth - like today I just have my laptop, instead of my usual laptop/monitor/external mouse that I have at home. So some things are harder to do here than at home. I guess once I'm back full time, that won't be the case.
My work is requiring everyone to be fully vaccinated by August. I'm not sure why they are requiring everyone back on campus before then, but it is what it is I guess. I find it a pain in the butt to wear masks all day and hope that once August comes, we can ditch that requirement.
My H has no idea. I don't think they have talked about it, or at least they haven't shared plans with him. He's hoping to continue working from home 3-4 days a week. They just started requiring the whole team to be in person on Mondays for a staff meeting, but there is no word whether or not that will remain the only day.
My personal preference would be to WFH 2-3 days a week, depending on what's going on. I don't anticipate that actually happening, though, which is frustrating.
Post by thedutchgirl on May 4, 2021 12:44:47 GMT -5
My office's policy is exactly the same as melmaria's, down to the survey last week. (MN companies are mostly acting pretty similar--unless we work for the same place!) Some of my firm's other offices aren't yet in the phase of reopening, and others are just doing so now.
Now that the Chauvin trial is over, I'm thinking I may start going back in 1 day a week or so, just to get out of the house. Ultimately I probably will probably try to work from home 3 days a week. I used to average 1-2 pre-pandemic. I said I'd be okay without having a dedicated office, although I'd prefer one, I think.
Work surveys indicate the majority of our folks plan to or already are vaccinated.
MH is a HS teacher and last week was his first time in a classroom since March 2020. @@ The students returned this week but were given the choice of in-person or online learning, and most have opted to stay home.
He also teaches a college class which is still remote. I think he would prefer to keep it online because it’s just an easier schedule for him.
My job is WFH regardless of COVID so my only change was whether or not other household members were home with me during the day - currently I am alone. Our main office is not in the US and only allowed a handful of people back on the office throughout 2020. Their area is currently on strict lockdown again so they are all WFH for the time being.
Post by seeyalater52 on May 4, 2021 13:16:51 GMT -5
I will be permanently working remotely when my office goes back!
Our office isn’t open yet, and won’t be until after Labor Day at the earliest. It’s downtown in a major city and only accessible by public transit, plus it has shared elevator banks with dozens of other companies and an open floor plan with minimal closed offices. They are being rightfully cautious in considering all of these factors when securing a return date and plan for covid office procedures. If I had to guess I think they might start phasing people back in around Jan 2022.
H has been working the entirety of the pandemic as his job was deemed essential.
I work for a very large global insurance company with over 30K employees. In the US, a handful of our offices have opened, however, it is voluntary only, and employees are broken in to two groups and each group is only permitted in the office every other week. Masking is required everywhere in the building unless you are able to maintain 6ft. You also have to have a negative covid test before entering the building. My Team consists of 28 employees across 3 offices in PA/NJ/DE, with the bulk in Philly. None of our offices are open yet. There were talks of opening Philly in March and they even had a date, but cancelled it. There have been no additional talks of reopening that office or either of the other two offices where my team sits. My company has never been supportive of wfh and pre-pandemic I was lucky to get approved for 1 permanent wfh day. A couple of months ago they sent out a template for everyone to use if they wanted to request additional wfh days and I requested 3, but they won't even be reviewing those requests until our offices are scheduled to reopen. I'm perfectly content wfh, my job is 99.999% paperless, there is really no need for me to physically be in the office, so we'll see.
My H just started a new position within his organization (yay big promotion!) and is still wfh for the foreseeable future. There is a chance some will return to the office in September, but his line of work often wfh even pre pandemic so we’ll see
We have been asked to return July 1 PT in-person (university) but I'm pushing for August 1 given there are no students, no faculty, no visitors, and all my programs are cancelled. My boss wants us to remain hybrid and really take what we've learned to expand convenience and hours for students via a new model. His boss wants everyone in a room to socialize like old times. I'm willing to come back FT in August but will start looking for new work if it appears they double down on rigidity. My #1 priority is remote work. The benefits of WAH have been immense (financial, exercise/sleep, family, environmental, mental health, work efficiency).
My current company is still fully remote and will be indefinitely, but will entertain a hybrid option for those who want it at some point.
My new company (starting in about 3 weeks) is currently remote and is looking for new office space, so we'll likely be doing hybrid at some point this fall.
My H's company shut down their office space entirely last year after the pandemic started. His division was then bought by a company headquartered in KC. Their closest office to us is about 20 miles, but at least 45 minutes each way in traffic. There's been no report of him needing to go in, but he's hoping for one day a week max.
I just started working from home yesterday. So far it's pretty awesome. I am an occupational therapist/ group therapy leader so I never thought I would have the opportunity to work from hope. I work in an outpatient program that is currently functioning in a modified form through zoom. When we first transitioned to zoom I was immediately deployed to all inpatient coverage. I finally got to come back to my program a couple months ago and I just got approved to WFH starting yesterday. I should be able to continue WFH until the program goes back to being in person. I'm guessing that will be late summer/ early fall, although no one knows yet.
DH: office closed and his job is 100% WFH Me: office open and “return to work” plan is going to be announced “soon”. Limited in office staff since March 2020 and management is hopeful to have more staff this summer since vaccines are more widely available. I, personally, want to be 100% remote but it hasn’t been approved.
I currently WFH 3 days a week. Our state has tied reopening to vaccination rates. 70% to fully reopen which we will likely never reach. So who knows? In all likelihood I will probably wfh at least one day a week forever because I am so much more productive.
My H is a professor and has no idea if he’ll be in person come fall. It will likely be all or nothing though.
H has always WFH with travel at about 40%. His company was bought a few months ago, and there is no current plan to resume travel in 2021 unless approved at high levels. H is fine with it, though I think he will be glad to get back to travel when he can. The clients who are back at work are not even taking outside meetings at this point.
I’m a teacher and have been back in the building since August.
H’s company didn’t renew their office space lease and are pretty much permanently remote now. They did get a much much smaller office that employees can use if they need an in-person meeting or to meet with a client or something, but otherwise, they’re all WFH now.
My organization has been back full time since late last spring. Our executive director isn’t a huge fan of WFH, and we’ve been open to the public since last June, so WFH full time hasn’t been an option because of that. We have 4 people in the office, and at this point we’ve all been fully vaccinated. Two are in the 2 week period waiting for their antibodies to build post 2nd dose. We wear masks the entire time we’re in the office, but we’re going to loosen that to not while sitting at our desks once everyone is 2 weeks post vaccine. Our maintenance person is vehemently antivax and antimask, which makes us really annoyed, although he wears his mask around us just complaining the whole time.
DHs company has begun letting people in. He’s hearing from others in his department that some managers are making noise about getting back to the office soon, although Hs manager hasn’t said anything. Even when everyone else has to H can’t go in for a while because he can’t medically be vaccinated yet, and we’re not thinking he’ll have an issue getting permission to stay home. He’s trying to get permission to WFH permanently due to his condition. His company has made it clear that they’re an in person company and never plan to allow significant WFH. They also have a huge open floor plan with hundreds of people and not even cublcles, just desks. Now there are some plexiglass barriers, but not many.
Post by underwaterrhymes on May 5, 2021 6:59:10 GMT -5
We have been largely remote since last March with a small crew around the country going in to process mail / donations.
We have a phased approach to return to in-person engagement. Currently we are allowing people who are fully vaccinated to work from the office or meet with other vaccinated staff / volunteers (up to 10 people) if they wish provided they wear masks and socially distance.
Eventually we will be at a hybrid remote / in-person model, but we aren’t there yet. Since we are a health org that works with a particularly vulnerable population, we have had a conservative approach, which I greatly appreciate.
I have to be back 5 days a week starting 6/1. Some people are transitioning a couple days a week now but I’m holding out until the bitter end and will go back kicking and screaming.
My DH has been back in the office 100% for months, but now travel is ramping up again. He will be in Boston tomorrow and Denver next week, and he anticipates having at least two more trips in the next month or so.
I worked from home 100% pre-pandemic anyway, so no changes for me. I think it will be fall or fourth quarter before I take my first work trip, although I do have coworkers who are going to Spain for an international conference at the end of June.
Semi-lurker, but I'm active on working parents. I'm on the team that's tasked with creating our return plan. We've been full remote this whole time with a few people in and out of the office by choice. So this thread is helpful to see the range of plans other companies are doing! I'm in favor of a hybrid model with a couple days in office and a couple days out. We're an org that has always emphasized a lot of in person collaboration and events, so we're missing that desperately and have had staff express that.
Fully remote with no firm date of return. I know they’ve been working on a transition plan for July but it’s still tentative. I think the office will look much different then- it’s doubtful anyone will be required to work from the office. I’m looking forward to going in once or twice a week.
Post by thelurkylulu on May 5, 2021 10:10:43 GMT -5
Our office is open up to 50% capacity, but no one has to go in unless they want to. They are looking at reopening at 100% but nothing has been communicated. I was on a call with our COO and he was pretty adamant everyone needs to get back to the office, which is not going to go over well. He is an old white man and talked about how he personally needs his administrative assistant to help him complete basic tasks like faxing. 🙄 Company did a survey and over 75% of people want to continue WFH. I would imagine we will see significant turnover of people are required to go back 100% of the time. One of our core values is “flexibility” lol
The nature of our work doesn’t require us to be in office and our productivity has actually increased during WFH. It’s disappointing to me that corporate America hasn’t seemed to evolve when it comes to remote working.