Post-Pandemic Workplace
Everyone is curious about how the workplace will look as we return to our pre-pandemic routines. One of the most crucial routines that we will be returning to is getting back into the office. During the pandemic, workplaces were shut down, offering work-from-home opportunities that became the new routine for many people. While working from home has its benefits, it’s beginning to become the exception more than the rule as we return to our pre-pandemic routines.
Many employers are working with a new set of rules to ensure the safety and health of employees as they return to the office. One of those being rearranging workstations. As the offices reopen, employers are striving to create spacious work desk for each employee. Ensuring that those employees have the space they need to work and maintaining some social distance that had become the new normal. This may be a challenge for employers who previously had dense workstations. Some employers that are faced with the space constraints are taking alternative measures into place, such as having employees occupy every other workstation. Employers are also working to replace open workstations with partitions in front of every desk to reduce the transmission of illnesses. If your employer is still working on creating this new environment, we encourage you to be patient. It takes time to adjust.
Offices that have dense workstation space and many employees are also considering adopting changes in the way they work. While getting everyone back into the office is ideal, some employers have found that alternating work schedules can help. Changing hours, days, and work-from-home schedules are all ways that employers are considering to help lessen the transmission of illness and ensuring the health and safety of their employees. Employees should not expect to work from home 100% of the time anymore and should be open to being flexible while getting back into the office.
The pandemic made employers really stop and consider what conveniences and luxuries exist in the workplace. The disruption of this will be remembered for a long time. As we move back into the offices post-pandemic, we need to be aware that the culture is striving to return to normal, but never will be exactly like it was before the pandemic hit. Employees who are flexible and willing to work with their employers are being rewarded with larger pay and other benefits. Those employees who are insisting on remaining solely work-from-home are seeing less and less opportunities and benefits being offered.
