Sarah Green Carmichael, Columnist

Return-to-Office Decrees Should Wait a Few More Weeks

Covid-19 has not yet receded, and employees have individual reasons for avoiding infection.

For some the risk is still too high.

Photographer: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
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Last summer’s back-to-the-office push ran into a delta-shaped speed bump. Then omicron threw up a concrete wall. With daily Covid-19 infection rates again falling, some companies are reissuing RTO deadlines. Employees of Citigroup, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are among those who’ve been asked to return in early February, at least in New York City.

There’s a case to be made that these sweeping decrees are premature.