How To Get Caregivers Back To The Office

As Covid vaccinations gain steam, so are plans to return to the office — despite how some workers feel about it. Anxiety over returning to the office is very real. Blind, an anonymous community of verified professionals with 4 million+ users, began running a survey gauging if professionals were anxious about returning to the office and why. 65% of professionals on Blind are anxious about the office reopening, according to results.

4,200 users across different industries share their cause of concerns as offices announce reopening dates. Of those experiencing anxiety, 47% are “very concerned” about the health risks associated with returning to the office. 15% anticipate never returning to the office.

The leading cause of concern for anxious professionals is managing home care logistics. 51% of professionals are “very concerned,” and 27% are “moderately concerned” with managing home care logistics. 

Because of these learnings, we asked thousands of working parents/ caretakers on Blind about returning to a physical office the following questions (From 4/21-4/27 5,143 responses):

1. Do you have someone dependent on you when you are working from home?
2. If your office were to reopen, what timeline would you need from your employer to take care of your home logistics? (childcare, pet care, extended family care, etc.)
3. What would help you readjust to in-person office days more; a daily flexible schedule or a hybrid schedule?

Key learnings:

• 47% of surveyed professionals on Blind have a dependent at home (either a child, elderly person, or a high-risk person)
  • Professionals in their 40s have the most caregiving responsibilities (75%)
  • 44% of professionals without depends can come back to the office right now
    • This is starkly contrasted with the 16% of caregiving professionals who can come back to the office right now
  • Of those with a dependent at home, 27% of professionals need at least 1-3 month notice from their employer to be able to go back to the office
  • Men with children are twice as likely as women with children to be able to return to the office right now
• Of the surveyed professionals on Blind who have a dependent at home, 54% need a flexible hybrid schedule
  • Another 37% need both flexible hours DAILY and a flexible hybrid schedule
• Summary: flexibility will outlive the pandemic

Employers should share accurate, timely, and transparent information to give their employees enough time to properly sort their at-home logistics, requiring an abundance of flexibility and time to work. 

What do you need before going back to the office? Join the conversation here.