Many Companies Shifting Away from Traditional Workweek: Poll

A new poll is shedding light on just how many businesses will return employees to the office for a traditional five-day workweek.

The pandemic forced drastic changes in how workers performed their jobs, and now companies are shifting their plans toward more hybrid systems for employees.

A new poll conducted by the Bay Area Council found more employers plan to drop the traditional concept of being in the office five days a week.

The council surveyed more than 200 companies over three months and concluded a majority of offices plan to have workers in the office three days a week or less in the future. Here are some of the data from the poll:

• 5% plan to require workers in the office one day a week
• 22% plan to require two days
• 40% plan to require three days
• 13% plan to require four days
• 19% are returning to the office five days a week

Companies polled said workers were in the office four or five days a week before the pandemic.

The shift could have a significant impact on traffic. According to a study conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle, congestion already is approaching pre-pandemic levels despite the fact that most people are still working remotely.

But public transportation has not seen the same level of ridership it was seeing before the pandemic. Most of the routes for BART and other modes of public transit have returned, but only a portion of the riders have resumed using it.

Source: NBC Bay Area