NRB has conducted a survey of its members to get an idea of how organizations plan to move forward in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of those who participated in the survey, around 39% said they are following state and/or local guidelines with regards to when they plan to fully bring staff back into their offices, while around 30% reported that all their staff are already working in their offices as usual. Less than 4% said that they are waiting for a vaccine.
In terms of what measures they are or will be implementing in order to protect their staff upon return, most listed social distancing (69%), frequent cleaning/disinfecting of areas (69%), self-quarantine for staff who are ill (69%), and face masks and/or shields (55%). Some listed sanitization stations (43%), capacity limits (35%), and temperature checks (31%). Few (10%) are or will be barring in-person meetings.
When it comes to placing restrictions on business travel, NRB’s membership was evenly divided with around 48% reporting that they have placed restrictions and about 52% saying that they have not.
Regarding how organizations have mostly been determining the next steps for their workplace, 42% have been relying on executive-level discussions, 32% have been relying on discussions at both the staff level and executive level, and 15% have been relying on staff-wide discussions.
Among organizations that typically host large in-person events, about half (51%) said they still plan to while 37% are unsure if they will hold one over the next year and 14% said they will not. Of those who plan to, more than half (59%) will be doing so more than six months out.
As for attending large in-person events, most organizations (73%) plan to send employees some time over the next year as they normally do, while 34% are unsure at the moment. Very few (5%) do not plan to send their employees to large in-person events over the next year, though they normally have in the past.
NRB’s survey was conducted in the months of August and September.
