Happy returns? Companies plan how to get employees back to work
About half of Britain’s employers are likely to stagger their workers’ return to the office, amid concerns over the health risks of going back to work.
According to research by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, 49 per cent of employers are planning to stagger the return to work based on employees’ own health risks related to Covid-19.
Meanwhile, 46 per cent will be staggering employees return depending on how critical their role is to the business, according to the survey of 2,200 firms.
Company strategies for the impending return to work varied from changing working hours to avoid peak transport times (chosen by 34 per cent of respondents), creating smaller workgroups (40 per cent), and making the return to work voluntary (33 per cent).
Over a quarter – 28 per cent – of businesses said that they will base their return-to-work strategy on local infection rates.
Lucy Bisset, director at Robert Walters, said: “What the research highlights is that despite the success of home working, employers are keen to start encouraging their staff back into the workplace and are happy to take necessary steps and put procedures in place to help enable this.
“A return to office brings about many perks, including social inclusion, better workplace collaboration, a separation of homelife, and a reinforcement of company values.
“What employers need to do is merge the perks of office-life with what people have been enjoying about working from home; for example – flexi-hours, a relaxed atmosphere, and avoidance of busy commute times.”