It's March 2020 again

Less than a month after omicron was flagged as a “variant of concern,” it may seem like everyone you know has COVID. The virus is spreading rapidly, and well-educated, vaccinated journalists are paying special attention. Early data indicates that severe disease is unlikely for people who are fully vaccinated and have had a booster. Nevertheless, its spread is still frightening for the vulnerable and unvaccinated, and reminiscent of March 2020.

So what about the ongoing debate over “return to office” plans? Return-to-office dates are really starting to sound like pipe dreams, having been pushed back so many times that Workplace reporter Allison Levitsky often updates Protocol’s “Return to Work” calendar a few times a day. As an Instacart employee told her: “The concept of ‘return back to office date’ doesn’t make sense anymore.”

Google canceled its Jan. 10, 2022, return date, and has yet to pick a new one. The company’s also cracking down on employees who refuse to get vaccinated.

Apple has indefinitely delayed its office reopening and is giving employees $1,000 to improve their home workspaces.

Meta and Lyft are still opening their offices but won’t require employees to come in.

There are countless others, though not all blame the new variant.

Nobody’s going back to work anytime soon. As we’ve said before: Stop setting reopening dates. The pandemic is impossible to predict.

The most important thing to focus on is company culture, not reopening dates. Reynaldo Ramirez, co-founder of Thrive HR consulting, told Protocol “a lot of organizations think their facilities really enhance their culture. The pandemic has shown that the culture is really driven by how employees are treated on a day-to-day basis, whether they’re in the office or not.”

Some experts recommend “if, then” statements that set out pandemic scenarios and the appropriate office plan. Ramirez said that approach is trickier for large corporations that want to put employees at ease. And he agrees that confidently setting reopening dates is also bad. “I think organizations that have said, look we don’t have all the answers, but when we do, we will let you know — that’s a much better message from an employee perspective,” he said.

Maybe nobody even wants to go back in full time. And if that’s the case, then forced return-to-office would be bad news for worker retention.

Tech recruitment is already more brutal than ever, and many workers prioritize companies that will allow indefinite remote work. “Remote work is highly productive for organizations,” Ramirez said. “And I don’t think employees want to give up the flexibility of having to go into the office on a regular basis.”

Why face long commutes, constant distractions and bras when you can do your job just as well at home?

Of course, there are still parts of the office we miss dearly. “I don’t think it’s going to be the nail in the coffin for return to work,” Ramirez said. There’s still value in meeting in-person and forming relationships through fun banter or chance encounters.

Peter Chin-Hong, a UCSF infectious disease expert, said with vaccines, masks, all that good stuff, it will be possible to build a safe office environment. “At some point, we will not be afraid of COVID,” Chin-Hong said. “You don’t want to get it but you won’t be walling yourself in at home.”

When that day comes, and we do get back together, things will look very different. It will make sense to come in for work activities like team collaboration, feedback sessions and pingpong tournaments. But getting together for a long, boring project update? As Ramirez puts it: “Nobody liked that to begin with, and you can do that with Zoom.”