Majority of U.S. employees fear returning to the workplace amid COVID-19

Envoy has released results from its Protecting the Workplace study, which claims that 73 percent of U.S. employees fear a return to the workplace could pose a risk to their personal health and safety. While a majority of employees say they do want to return to the workplace once COVID restrictions are lifted, 75 percent said they would consider quitting their job if they felt their employers’ actions to prevent COVID-19 were inadequate or inappropriate.

As employers grapple with how to provide a safe workplace amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Envoy’s latest survey claims many workers – including those who have already returned to the office – are worried about their employers’ ability to keep them safe when returning to a shared office. At the same time, a majority 94 percent, say they’d like to go back to the workplace at least part of the time, while continuing some work from home.

Concerns that companies won’t adequately protect their health

Three quarters (75 percent) of employees say they would consider quitting their job if their employers downplayed COVID-19 risks (36 percent), didn’t wear a face mask (31 percent), or urged them to return to work before they felt safe (29 percent). Of employees who have returned to the workplace, 42 percent say they’ve experienced preventive measures that were either ineffective or not enforced, including six-foot distancing measures (25 percent) mask requirements (21 percent) and handwashing requirements (18 percent).

Though 42 percent of employees are still working from home, a fifth (20 percent) have returned to the workplace in some capacity and nearly 2 in 5 (39 percent) never stopped working on-site.

Privacy concerns and proximity to sick coworkers 

Employees are most concerned about not knowing if someone sick comes into the workplace (40 percent), too many people in the workplace at once (31 percent) and being indoors with lack of proper ventilation (24 percent). At the same time, employers can’t afford to overstep their bounds, with 37 percent of employees reporting they would consider a job switch over privacy concerns, including if their employer sent personal information without privacy measures taken (28 percent) or asked for personal health information that they weren’t comfortable sharing (21 percent).

Younger employees are particularly more likely to be disturbed about intrusive behavior. Millennials (42 percent) and Gen Xers (40 percent) are more likely to consider leaving over privacy concerns than Boomers (27 percent).

Return to work sentiment exposes workplace class divisions

Those who work in blue collar professions such as construction or manufacturing (64 percent) are more likely to not be very confident that their co-workers will follow safe workplace procedures than those in business or tech services (52 percent). Those in business or tech services (84 percent) are more likely to consider leaving their job than those in industries such as construction or manufacturing (71 percent) and retail or service industry (67 percent), alluding to the fact that many workers don’t have the luxury to consider leaving their job.

Retail or service industry workers (74 percent) are more likely to not have full trust that their employer will take the necessary steps to keep them safe compared to tech and business workers (64 percent).

Workers want to return to the workplace, but on their own terms

Despite concerns about a return, 90 percent say they do miss the workplace, especially friends and teammates (47 percent) small talk at the coffee machine or water cooler (31 percent) and perks like lunch and snacks (36 percent). More than 94 percent want to spend at least one day a week in the office, with 46 percent saying the ideal number of days in the office is five days a week.

Many crave space away from family, with nearly 1 in 5 (19 percent) parents saying they miss the workplace’s ability to be a sanctuary from children and 21 percent of those in relationships saying they miss it as a break from their spouse or partner.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The data tells us that employees do want to return to the workplace.”[/perfectpullquote]

“The data tells us that employees do want to return to the workplace, but they want to come back to one that takes better care of them and puts their health and safety at the forefront,” said Larry Gadea, founder and CEO of workplace technology company Envoy.

“In order for companies to reopen safely and quickly, they’ll need to adopt technologies that create a more dynamic and responsive workplace that meets the needs of its workers, so that employees can return to the office confidently.”