Many companies don't expect meaningful return to office until second quarter

Reintroduction of tight Covid restrictions the biggest risk to their companies, say bosses

Nearly 40% of business leaders expect it to be some time during the second quarter of the year — between the beginning of April and the end of June — before the majority of their staff are back in the office.

A significant amount of Irish company bosses do not expect to have the bulk of their staff back in their company’s office or workplace until April at the earliest, according to a survey.

Nearly 40% of business leaders expect it to be some time during the second quarter of the year — between the beginning of April and the end of June — before the majority of their staff are back in the office.

The study, by the Institute of Directors in Ireland (IoD), found that just 8% of business leaders expect a meaningful return to office life this month, while just 6% are hopeful for February. The outlook for March is more optimistic, but still only 16% of bosses currently believe office life will be back to normal by then.

'Return to remote working'

“With many staff returning to the workplace for at least some of the time during autumn 2021, the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has seen a significant return to remote working," said IoD chief executive Maura Quinn.

“While the rollout of the booster vaccine programme has been swift and widespread, it looks like the public health restrictions already in place will remain so for the foreseeable future,” she said.

While raw material cost inflation, economic instability, Brexit concerns, global supply chain issues, and staffing challenges were all listed as risks to their companies, the return of tight Covid restrictions was by far deemed the biggest risk by bosses.

Still, economic optimism has improved, with 31% of bosses now more optimistic about the economy than in the previous quarter.