Best of the week: Employees don’t want to return to the office

Employees have embraced remote work and aren’t eager to return to the physical office, even as vaccines roll out and workplace trends predict big changes for 2021.

Seventy percent of employees would like to continue to work remotely part of the time post-COVID, according to Glassdoor. Employers will be tasked with building strong work cultures and implementing new benefits to support a variety of employee needs.

Read more: What does work look like in 2021? Workplace experts share their predictions

Some employers are rethinking their PTO policies and launching new programs to support employees with disabilities. A new initiative by the Society for Human Resource Management is tackling toxic work environments and offering training for leadership and HR managers.

See how employers are adapting to remote work and what’s in store for the year ahead in our top stories:

PwC finds employees aren’t eager to return to the office post-COVID
Research from PwC shows there is a disconnect between employers and employees when it comes to what the return to work may look like post-pandemic. Both agree that there will be some kind of hybrid model, where employees split their time between the home and office, according to PwC’s Remote Work Survey, conducted in December. However, how often employees will work remotely is disputed between the two groups.

Fewer than one in five employers say they want to return to the office as it was pre-pandemic. The rest are struggling with how widely to extend remote work options, with just 13% of executives prepared to let go of the office for good.

Read more: PwC finds employees aren’t eager to return to the office post-COVID

Older employees are adapting to remote work better than younger workers
Seventy percent of workers say they have been more productive than expected while working remotely, according to a study by Nintex, a workflow automation platform. More than half of employees say their lives would improve if they could work from home permanently.

With less distractions, employees are working more efficiently: 41% of employees say they are getting their work done in less hours per week than when they worked in the office, Nintex found. Technology has played a role in streamlining the workday: 39% of respondents said that automation would make their lives easier as they work from home.

Read more: Older employees are adapting to remote work better than younger workers

COVID forced employers to reexamine their PTO policies
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act — which expired on Dec. 31 — required employers to provide two weeks of fully paid leave to employees who’ve contracted coronavirus, and two-thirds pay to those needing to take two weeks to care for a loved one, according to the Department of Labor. While the FFCRA is no longer in effect, research from the insurance company Guardian Life shows the mandate, and resulting local legislation, irrevocably changed how employers approach paid leave.

Three in four employers changed their unpaid leave policies to paid, and one in three employers created new and separate COVID-19 leave policies in response to the new laws, according to the Guardian Life study. Currently, 35% of U.S. employers offer paid extended family care leave, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
Read more: COVID forced employers to reexamine their PTO policies

New SHRM initiative tackles workplace toxicity
Toxic workplace culture is running rampant during COVID-19 and can have long-lasting effects on employees and the organization’s bottom line. One in five workers has left their job because of a toxic workplace, costing employers $223 billion over the last five years, according to SHRM. During COVID, just 32% of employees report feeling satisfied with their job, down from 57% pre-pandemic, according to a survey by research firm The Martec Group.

A new initiative by the Society for Human Resource Management is taking on two key workplace issues: poor culture and hiring biases, which can lead to toxic work environments. The “When I Grow Up” initiative offers training, coaching and other professional development tools to help employers improve their culture and create a more inclusive work environment.

Read more: New SHRM initiative tackles workplace toxicity

Voya initiative promotes supportive benefits for employees with special needs
Employees with disabilities and special needs often face unique roadblocks in their careers and financial lives, but there are strategies employers can take to better support, include and advocate for this community.

Voya Cares — an arm of the financial planning and employee benefits provider Voya Financial — works to provide people with disabilities and their families with resources to secure their financial future. Voya Cares specializes in financial planning benefits for people with disabilities, like an employer-provided ABLE account, which is a savings account used to finance expenses related to a disability. Voya Cares also offers resources to help employees navigate government benefits and maximize the company offerings available to them.

Read more: Voya initiative promotes supportive benefits for employees with special needs