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8 HE ALTH • Summer 2021 • By Monica Benevides Navigating the post-pandemic workplace is upsetting new norms for employees and leaving employers in a tough spot Going back to the office T here's no denying that working from home provides increased f lexibility throughout an employee's workday. What was once, perhaps, a f loor of workers quietly tapping away in cubicles and offices, is now many white-collar workers' own homes, where they are steps away from switching their laundry, easily accessi- ble to family members and housemates and, generally speaking, likely more comfortable stepping away from their computers to do whatever it is they need to do to keep their personal lives running smoothly. Tasks previously delegated to after 5 p.m. and weekends might be slipped in between phone calls and emails, calls to doctors made without fear of prying coworkers' lis- tening ears. While the discourse is split among extroverts who miss the proverbial water cooler and introverts who feel they work better when they aren't being perceived for 8-hour intervals, the work-from-home phenomenon that rocked the office workplace during the coronavirus pandemic has opened up a new world, one workers aren't eager to give up. A study from the staffing firm Robert Half of California, whose results were circulated in April, found one in three employees who are currently working from home because of the pandemic would look for a different job if they were forced to report back to the office full-time. Nearly half – 49% – said they'd prefer a hybrid model allowing them to work away from the office for part of their work time. "Employers are really kind of forced to be f lexible," said Ryan Foley, a partner at Cunningham and Associates, a Worcester-based business consulting firm. Focus on productivity It's too early to say for certain how certain norms may shift for the work- ing-from-home set, in large part because while it may have become easier for those away from the office to set up and attend telehealth appointments or else call healthcare providers, healthcare sys- tems were overwhelmed throughout much of the last COVID year. Although non-health care workers may have sud- denly found they had more time on their hands, healthcare providers defi- nitely did not. In the meantime, employers are now trying to find a middle-ground between maintaining productivity and main- IMAGE/ADOBE STOCK.COM Ryan Foley, partner at Worcester business consulting firm Cunningham and Associates