Working from home is no longer an option.
An early uptick in the number of flu cases has many workers feeling particularly vulnerable. Why? Because they try to keep themselves safe from contracting a viral illness amid the pressure of finally returning to the office. However, the chances of picking up a bug have skyrocketed in recent weeks. According to a Gartner survey of 240 HR leaders, 36% of have called workers back to the office at least three days a week beginning September. That figure is up 25% from the previous month. Caroline Walsh, a Gartner VP, says this continues to be the trend despite their data not showing remote work harming performance or culture.
Fears of a looming recession may also compound the pressure to return to the office. That is especially true amid high inflation and a volatile stock market. Amid such a bleak economic backdrop, workers may feel like they have no choice but to come to work sick or risk losing their jobs as companies push for greater productivity to ride out an unstable market through to the end of the year. These circumstances look to erase the gains made in the workplace since the pandemic rewrote the rules for calling in sick. While Covid 19 finally made it okay to prioritize health over productivity, returning to pre-pandemic practices doesn’t mean we have to go back to the misguided heroics of fighting through sickness to work. To prevent this flu season from being one of the worst in recent years, workers’ health should be the priority.
