Reuters Next: Omicron may throw wrench in companies' plans to return to office
03/12/2021 05:01
By Ben Klayman
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Company executives are beginning to
consider different permanent work models for their employees as
the coronavirus pandemic, and the spread of the Omicron variant
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-tightens-covid-19-travel-rules-countries-race-quell-omicron-threat-2021-12-01,
destabilize their latest return-to-office plans.
With Omicron so new, companies are struggling to understand
how the variant might affect their operations and profits. Most
have taken a wait-and-see stance as they weigh how fast the
variant may spread and its potential harmfulness, although
Alphabet Inc's GOOGL.O Google was indefinitely delaying its
return-to-office plan around the world. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SK1HL
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2SN3V8
Luxury toilet maker Lixil Corp's 5938.T chief people
officer, Jin Montesano, told the Reuters Next conference this
week that the company has deviated from Japan's rigid work
structure by dumping core working hours and morning meetings,
and rethinking what the office should be. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SN0BB
"It's no longer the place to work ... wherever you get work
done is where you work," said Montesano during a panel
discussion on the Future of Work. "What we want to do is
reimagine the office."
Countries moved swiftly this week to impose bans or tougher
testing rules on travel after the Omicron variant was first
uncovered in southern Africa. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SM07K
"We almost could compare it to a war situation," Philip
Morris PM.N CEO Jacek Olczak said to Reuters at the
conference. "Everyone pretends that things are getting normal,
but it is not normal. We have all changed."
Dr. Neal Mills, chief medical officer for benefits
consulting firm Aon Plc AON.N , said his team has been meeting
with clients all week about possible new options.
"They are recognizing that they are going to need to revisit
many of the decisions they've made. If this changes how
effective treatments are, what is the level of risk the
organization is willing to tolerate in bringing employees back
in January?" he told Reuters.
The World Health Organization said as more countries report
cases, the new COVID-19 variant carries a "very high" global
risk of surges. Scientists have said it could take weeks to
understand its severity, although early indications were that
most cases were mild. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SK05V
The prospect of a fast-spreading variant has raised fears of
a return of the sort of restrictions that shut down a swath of
industries in 2020.
"Companies at this point have created time lines for people
to come back to the office and then delayed them so many times
that what I'm hearing is they are looking to not commit until
there's certainty," said Jeff Levin-Scherz, a managing director
with benefits consulting firm Willis Towers Watson Plc WTY.F .
More than half of U.S. employers (57%) surveyed by Willis
Towers Watson either require or plan to require vaccinations, in
a poll released on Tuesday but which was conducted before
Omicron was discovered.
Additionally, the survey found slightly more than a third of
employees were working remotely - and that was expected to drop
to 27% in the first quarter of 2022.
Wall Street banks, for instance, are not immediately
changing their return-to-work plans, but like many industries
are closely monitoring the situation. Global airlines are
bracing for the possibility they could be forced to juggle
schedules. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2SK3MO urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SM0GV
"We are in what I would call the uptick mode, but ... there
could be various concerns coming up at any time, and we need to
adjust our schedules accordingly," Emirates Airline EMIRA.UL
President Tim Clark said at the Reuters conference. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2SL3TT
Coca-Cola Co's KO.N CEO, James Quincey, said his company
has learned throughout the pandemic.
"Each successive wave of lockdown had less of an impact on
our business," he said this week at the Redburn CEO conference.
"That adaptability and flexibility ... makes us feel better."
COMPANIES IN LIMBO
Meanwhile, companies that operate in the United States are
being squeezed between President Joe Biden's administration,
which has pushed for companies to mandate vaccinations, and the
courts.
On Tuesday, two courts blocked the administration from
enforcing mandates requiring millions of American workers to get
vaccinated against COVID-19. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SL3N1
Biden unveiled regulations in September to increase the U.S.
adult vaccination rate as a way of fighting the pandemic https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/latest-worldwide-spread-coronavirus-2021-02-18,
which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and weighed on the
economy.
The most sweeping regulation, a workplace vaccine-or-testing
mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees, was
temporarily blocked by a federal appeals court in early
November. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2S32NB
The orders had been seen as providing cover for companies to
require workers to get vaccinated, and the court rulings leave
them in limbo as they push to get workers back into workplaces.
Of course, for some companies, the "office" is still
preferred.
"Nearly two-thirds of my customers are men buying jewelry
for their girlfriends, wives, grandmothers or children. And we
know that men buying jewelry need help," Alexander Lacik, CEO of
jewelry maker Pandora PNDORA.CO , said at the Reuters
conference. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2SM3AE
To watch the Reuters Next conference please register at https://reutersevents.com/events/next/
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, additional reporting by
Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen, Aziz El Yaakoubi in
Dubai, Siddarth Cavale in Bengaluru, Anna Driver in New York,
and Sakura Murakami and Belen Carreno in Tokyo
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
((benjamin.klayman@thomsonreuters.com; 313-600-2277; Reuters
Messaging: benjamin.klayman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))