Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - The lonely few working inside many Western New York area offices are reminded of their once bustling workplace everyday they still report to work. And many of those reporting from their bedroom to the living room for work may be enjoying the commute but are longing for the pre-pandemic work environment.
It's been nearly a year since New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered non-essential businesses to close down. That's led to employees working from home since then.
And perhaps once of the most often asked questions of late seems to be, what's the plan to bring workers back to the office?
Lawley Insurance has offices in three states, including here in Buffalo, and Kim Navagh says there's been hybrid schedules already in place. "Based on the metrics in those places, we've done that. There's been some low and some highs of that, because at the end of the day we're better connected together," says Navagh. She says 80 percent of the staff currently work remote, and after Easter plans are to bring them into a remote working schedule as well. "They'll be coming back about three days a week to the office and two days on remote," projects Navagh.
Navagh says the company is offering plenty of flexibility. "We have 450 associates, we probably have 449 different scenarios," says Navagh. She adds no one has been cut or furloughed, and all bonuses have been paid out.
Over at Univera Healthcare, Art Wingerter says in the fall the plan to push a return to work was pushed back to June. That has since changed. "Seeing at the time, we didn't make a lot of progress, and things weren't close to getting back to normal, we pushed that return back to Labor Day," says Wingerter.
Wingerter says he's been taking surveys on working at home. "Overwhelmingly, our staff is telling us most people have adjusted, and they're comfortable working from home," says Wingerter. He does note there are people who are anxious to return to the workspace. "People who say I need to get to work, I'm going crazy at home," he explains.
Wingerter suspects there will be a hybrid approach when workers return to work. The question is how many days a week will they be in the office, anywhere from one to four. "I'm not saying that will last forever. If it's efficient and it's works well, it could continue," says WIngerter.
Julia Berchou of M&T Bank says in a statement, "We announced last November that we're maintaining our work-from-home posture, for the majority of our workforce, through April 5, 2021. That date is a checkpoint at which we'll reassess the situation, leveraging the latest guidance from local and state regulations. We're mindful that by reducing density levels in all of our facilities, we're able to protect the health and safety of colleagues working on-site and from home."
