As Covid-19 Continues, Employees Crave Clarity About the Future of Work, Qualtrics Research Shows

Mikaela Cook -

As the two-year anniversary of Covid-19 looms, 61% of U.S. workers no longer believe there will be a "return to normal" when it comes to work.

This is just one of the findings from a research study recently conducted by Provo, Utah-based Qualtrics (NasdaqGS:XM).

The research also found that

71% of respondents don't believe Covid-19 is ever going away.

Because of such beliefs, employees are eager for long-term plans to be put into place and wish their employers would stop stalling on permanent office-return plans.

With regard to the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the survey found:

  • More than half (54%) of employees say they are just as comfortable working in an office now as they were before Omicron;
  • More than a third (43%) said they are being less cautious than they were with previous variants;
  • 35% said they think their employer should delay returning to the office as a result of Omicron; but
  • Only 21% have canceled work travel because of the Omicron variant.

According to Qualtrics’ Head of Employee Experience Advisory Services, Benjamin Granger, Ph.D.:

"The thing we are very commonly hearing from companies is that their employees are exhausted – they’re just at their wit's end. ... [E]mployees are coming to the realization that we will be living with this virus for a long time. They’re tired of the uncertainty and of waiting for ‘the new normal,’ and want their employers to acknowledge that we might be living in the new normal already."

According to the Qualtrics news release, "... the study was fielded between January 10 and January 12, 2022. Respondents were selected from a randomized panel and considered eligible if they live in the United States, are at least 18 years of age and are employed full-time. The total number of respondents was 1,021. Respondents who did not pass quality standards were removed."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  This marks the first article written for Silicon Slopes by one of our newest Contributors, Mikaela Cook. We hope you like it.