Omicron uncertainty delays Google and Uber office returns

|Shiksha Dev|THE DEN

With employee productivity still low, companies' questions regarding when to return their full workforces to the office have become more complex.

During a pandemic in which many decisions are made based on risk tolerance, the introduction of the new omicron variant has complicated the process of calculating those hazards. With further proof of the pandemic's unpredictable nature, major corporations that had planned to bring all their employees back into the office by early 2022 will have to determine whether those dates make sense.

The future of work remains uncertain, and uncertainty equals instability, according to Lars Schmidt, an author and podcast host. If you try to pretend that doesn't exist and force employees to do something they are not ready for, you'll encounter resistance from employees."

Google and Uber were among the first major employers in America to announce that they would postpone the Jan. 10 return date - not to another specific day, but indefinitely. Ford Motor Co. announced Monday that it would delay its return from January to March.