It’s been a stressful year, and for those Americans who are in the workforce some stressors have been magnified by changes in employment, working styles, and even business models.
Despite it all, 40% of working adults are not yet ready to head back to the workplace. In fact, a little more than one in five working Americans say it’s going to be at least another six months before they’re ready to get back to their normal work lives.
On the age front, the younger someone is, the more likely they’re either back at work already or prepared to return soon. An interesting takeaway is the difference among age groups is not terribly stark. Members of Gen Z who are 18 or older, for example, are only 16% more likely than those 55 and over to say they’re back or ready to go back to work.
Gender plays a role as well, with men being 13% more likely to say they’re ready to go back.
Rural Americans are 15% more likely than suburbanites or city dwellers to say they’re ready to get back to it.
Comfort returning to work also correlates with how the pandemic has impacted someone’s job status. Those who aren’t comfortable returning to their workplace for six months or more account for a large percentage of remote workers. Those who have experienced other effects of the pandemic on their employment don’t show nearly as much hesitation to return to work soon.
One interesting wrinkle: While all these questions are clearly based and filtered through the coronavirus lens, this next one isn’t, and it’s telling: People who like their jobs are 21% more likely than people who don’t like their jobs to say they are ready to resume normal work-related activity. While coronavirus concerns certainly play into everything, job satisfaction might be an equally accurate barometer for when someone is ready to get back to work.
While 60% of Americans are ready to get back to their typical work routines (some kind of normal resembling pre-pandemic), as time marches forward, these numbers are sure to change.
