This summer several high-end tech companies – Google, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter to name a few – have pushed back their return to office dates, or paused until further notice. Google, one of the first companies to completely pull their employees from the workplace at the start of COVID, is pushing their return back to January 2022.
According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly 14% of 400 U.S. employers surveyed in late July and early August said they would or already do require all staff to be vaccinated in order to work in person. Mary Kay O’Neill, a partner in Mercer’s health business, told the Journal, “a number of companies who have taken a conservative line on this may feel that it’s time that they can make the mandate”.
Major tech companies aren’t the only ones suffering delays, as return-to-office plans continue to change with the spread of the Delta variant. Now, CIOs, Facilities Managers, and Corporate Realtors are left to figure out how to get back on track, even as new restrictions are coming down that vary from state to state.
4 OFFICE RETURN TIPS
Lambent is encouraging customers to focus on four areas of concentration for designing and understanding their new corporate reopening strategies.
- Space optimization. Optimizing your workplace should be an immediate priority for facility managers, who should continue to familiarize themselves with space management terminology. Physically, incorporating a new layout strategy to minimize close contact and make the most of new employee schedules will help things flow more smoothly. Evaluating underutilized spaces will help optimise the workplace from an efficiency standpoint.
- Reporting. It would be hard to deliver on the top priority-optimization without being able to see results and reports quickly. The ability to surface critical data will inform space redesign in the workplace. Data can be viewed in historical context for help identifying trouble spots and making informed decisions when it comes to assessing and redesigning the workplace.
- New Leasing Goals. Informed leasing decisions should also be an area of focus; using data, facility managers should consider the type and amount of real estate required by their company both at this point in time, and for the future.
- Crowd analysis. Finally, we strongly encourage customers to remember the power of knowing the number of people in offices and on campuses at any one time. Knowing how many people are using different spaces in real time can help manage overcrowding and minimize risk.
To learn more about how Lambent helps facilities teams deliver on priorities like this, schedule time with one of our experts today.
Lambent uses AI and machine learning to manage crowds, foot traffic, and wait times throughout professional sports venues, higher education institutions, and corporate campuses.
