Workplace technology CEO: Expect to see big changes in the post-coronavirus workplace

As more economies begin to reopen globally, a growing number of questions are being raised about how work environments will function in the post-lockdown era.

A growing number of companies are offering generous work-from-home policies, and in the process have sparked intense discussions about the future of office space. But for those employees still required to make the daily work call, companies like workplace technology provider Envoy are helping to make people feel safe and taken care of when they return.

Employees transitioning back to work “still want to get all the benefits of being really close and being able to be collaborative,” but not risk their health in the process,” Envoy CEO Larry Gadea told Yahoo Finance’s “On the Move” last week.

Those making the transition “want to feel safe, they want to feel like the workplace that they're coming into is not going to make the situation any worse for them,” he added.

Interior of reception. Lights are illuminated above counter. Empty modern office.

According to Gadea, some of the ways they are seeing many companies address these fears is through daily surveys — asking employees things like if they have been around someone who is sick, how they are feeling, and if they have taken public transit.

Gadea also highlighted that in countries like China, where everyone is allowed to go back to the office, aren’t seeing nearly the turnout expected.

“Only a fraction of them are actually showing up, maybe 25%,” he said, although policies like temperature checks and staggered desks are being implemented.

Public transportation poses a challenge. In the world’s second-largest economy, it’s acceptable “to go into a bus and have your temperature taken on there.” Meanwhile, he suggested the U.S. may have to take a different approach due to its focus on privacy — something his company has placed high priority on.

“People just want to know that their company is doing something to keep them as safe as possible,” Gadea said. But unless companies and employees adopt to the growing trends, “we are going to make things worse and there are going to be more people that are sick in the workplace and and in the city,” he warned.

McKenzie DeGroot is a producer at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @degrootmckenzie

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