Dear Colleagues, We’d like to thank all of you who took the time to participate in our Remote Work and Return to Office Planning survey. The survey had an impressive X% (be sure to fill in!) response rate gathered more than 4,000 unique comments. Your feedback and valuable insights will be critical in informing what an eventual return to our office spaces may look like, as well as any additional support systems we can put in place to allow you to work even more effectively remotely. Today, we would like to share some of the survey’s key findings with you. WHAT’S WORKING? • Overall, colleagues feel positive about working from home, with 99% of employees stating that at least one aspect of remote work has worked well for them. • A majority of employees cited a lack of commute and more freedom and flexibility in how they work as the top benefits. • Additionally, a large number of you say that you are able to focus better on your work and have fewer interruptions while working remotely. WHAT’S CHALLENGING? • Lack of access to physical books/materials/tools and services has been difficult for many, particularly across our production, editorial, and design teams. • Home office set-up limitations (small space, lack of office furniture) was a common challenge cited throughout the survey. We’d like to remind you of our Ergonomic Reimbursement policy, which allows reimbursement for home office equipment such as chairs, headsets, and more. • About 60% of employees say that their main work-from-home challenges are not IT-related. For those of you who ae still facing technical struggles, click here to see examples of how our IT department is working hard to enhance your work-from-home experience. In addition, investments will continue to be made with the goal of ensuring that everyone is adequately equipped to continue to work remotely. LOOKING AHEAD • A majority of you cited “seeing colleagues in person” as one of the biggest benefits to returning to the office. • However, results indicate a large majority either do not want to return before there’s a vaccine or until early 2021. (I don’t think this is clear about what people really want but I don’t think I have the results presentation in order to make a suggestion. Is it something like “The vast majority of employees do not want to return to the office before 2021, with most wishing to wait until a vaccine is available.” ?) • The most common concerns people have in considering a return to the office are exposure to the virus (both while commuting and in the office) and having a negative impact on the curve. • Results also show that a majority of colleagues are interested in adjusting their work arrangements when we return, and even long-term post-pandemic, specifically related to how many days they will work in the office. OTHER KEY INSIGHTS • As we continue to work remotely, many employees would like the ability to visit the office on an ad-hoc basis to access physical equipment and gather materials that would be helpful to their jobs. We are exploring different options to try to accommodate this request while keeping everyone safe. Please check the daily Igloo bulletin for updates. • Childcare and the uncertainty pertaining to schools reopening are important factors for our employees who are parents – both in regards to working remotely and returning to the office. While it’s more difficult to work remotely with children being home due to closed schools and unavailable childcare, it would also be challenging if parents returned to the office and schools remained closed. • Many people noted that keeping employees informed and connected plays a major role in making remote work a successful arrangement. Our continued goal is to provide you with necessary information quickly and consistently. One way to stay informed and to ensure that you do not miss important information is to read the Igloo bulletin, which gets delivered to your inbox daily at 10am, as well as the weekly roundup email that is sent every Thursday afternoon during the summer months. A big thank you again to those who completed the survey. We will continue to analyze the results and comments in even greater detail and will consult them in all of our decision making. Please also be on the lookout for shorter “pulse” surveys that we’ll send out in the future in order to hear your ongoing thoughts and feelings about office re-entry.