Boston Globe (July 14)
“The Boston-Cambridge economy may never be the same after the COVID-19 pandemic.” Throughout the region, a “long-term acceptance of remote work and changes in commuting and travel habits” are expected to continue. As employees spend less time in the office, “demand for office space could drop by up to 20 percent, and commuter rail usage could fall between 15 and 50 percent from pre-pandemic levels.”
Tags: Acceptance, Boston, Cambridge, Commuter, Commuting, COVID-19, Economy, Employees, Office, Pandemic, Remote work, Travel habits
Financial Times (June 22)
Wall Street banks “have been at the forefront of the push to convince workers to return to the office.” In the strictest vaccination policy yet, “Morgan Stanley employees and clients who have not received their Covid-19 vaccine will be barred from entering the bank’s New York offices.”
Tags: Banks, Barred, Clients, COVID-19, Employees, Forefront, Morgan Stanley, New York, Office, Return, Strictest, Vaccination policy, Wall Street
Fortune (June 13)
“Before the pandemic, Japan’s workforce faced longstanding problems, like chronic overwork, low productivity, and too few women. Letting employees work from home may have helped ease all three, in addition to preventing the spread of COVID. But Japan’s failure to more fully adapt means it will likely miss out on the carry-on benefits of remote work that some corporations elsewhere are warming to.”
Tags: Adapt, Benefits, Covid, Employees, Failure, Home, Japan, Longstanding, Overwork, Pandemic, Productivity, Remote work, Women, Work, Workforce
Boston Globe (April 27)
“A grand experiment is about to take place in office buildings across Greater Boston, as many businesses begin reopening their offices to employees with newfound expectations around working from home.” The results are unknown, “but a significant majority of office employers are poised to move away from mandating the five-day, in-person workweek.”
Tags: Boston, Employees, Employers, Expectations, Five-day, Grand experiment, In-person, Office buildings, Reopening, Working from home, Workweek
Investment Week (April 9)
“JP Morgan chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon claimed Brexit ‘cannot possibly be a positive’ for the UK in the short term as he warned that the investment bank may one day move all European business out of London.” The bank’s 19,000 UK employees include 12,000 in London.
Tags: Brexit, Dimon, Employees, European, Investment bank, JP Morgan, London, Move, Short term, UK
Atlanta Journal Constitution (March 25)
“Far more workers are becoming eligible for vaccines now. Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday that all Georgians over the age of 16 will qualify for access starting today. An array of Georgia-based companies…said they are strongly encouraging employees to get shots that could curb the pandemic, protect the public and help open workplaces more quickly.”
Tags: Access, Companies, Eligible, Employees, Encouraging, Georgia, Kemp, Pandemic, Protect, Public, Shots, Vaccines, Workers, Workplaces
San Francisco Chronicle (March 24)
“Remote work is here to stay. Post-pandemic, many companies will let employees work remotely some or all of the time.” To support them, “a new executive position is emerging: The head of remote. That person spearheads keeping remote workers engaged, encouraging them to collaborate, while designing perks and flexibility tailored to their needs. Another goal: replicate the spontaneous connections that happen at in-person offices—in other words, create a virtual water cooler.”
Tags: Collaborate, Employees, Encouraging, Engaged, Flexibility, Head of remote, In-person, Perks, Post-pandemic, Remote work, Spearheads, Spontaneous connections, Support, Virtual water cooler
Orange County Register (December 2)
“Disney will lay off more than 11,500 Disneyland and Disney California Adventure employees as the company continues to struggle with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the eight-month closure of its Anaheim theme parks.” Even with the approaching vaccine, “the 11,572 Disneyland layoffs add to a grim and growing tally that last stood at 10,000 terminations.”
Tags: Anaheim, Closure, Coronavirus, Disney, Disneyland, Employees, Layoffs, Pandemic, Struggle, Theme parks
Reuters (February 18)
“The aversion to allowing work from home is unwelcome news for the government, which wants companies to let their employees telecommute during the Olympics to make travel easier for Games participants and spectators on Tokyo’s notoriously packed trains and roadways.”
Tags: Aversion, Companies, Employees, Government, Home, Olympics, Participants, Spectators, Telecommute, Tokyo, Work
Financial Times (February 14)
The Climate Leadership Council relaunched a carbon tax initiative “with support from ten energy companies (including BP), JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and MetLife. “If nothing else, this shows the pressure that Wall Street leaders feel on the issue from investors and their own employees.” It could also mark an important shift where “the concept might gain traction with Republicans.”
Tags: BP, Carbon tax, Climate Leadership Council, Concept, Employees, Energy companies, Goldman Sachs, Initiative, Investors, JPMorgan, MetLife, Republicans, Wall Street
