As employers prepare for workers to return to offices amid loosened COVID-19 restrictions, they can expect an array of feelings from workers, including excitement, anxiety and fear, experts told USA Today.
The pandemic has prompted significant shifts in the way people approach work, causing hospitals to contemplate what their future of work looks like and how they will adapt to new norms such as hybrid work.
Now, with many states dropping or planning to drop indoor mask mandates, some workers are excited about greater opportunities afforded by in-person schedules, experts told USA Today.
This includes Harris Baden, MD, a pediatrician who heads the cardiac critical care unit at Seattle Children's Hospital and is a professor and administrator at the University of Washington School of Medicine, also in Seattle.
When Washington state drops its indoor mask mandates March 21, he's particularly looking forward to more opportunities for in-person training and discussions related to the education of residents and fellows, Dr. Baden told USA Today.
"There's definitely been a decay of our sense of engagement, and our connection to the hospital and to the purpose," he told the newspaper. "We bear witness to suffering and not having had the chance to sit with your colleagues and commiserate, discuss and just share in that experience has had an impact on the well-being of providers."
There are other feelings, too, among American workers across industries.
For instance, members of Generation Z recently reported increases in symptoms of depression and anxiety related to virtual work, although many still want a remote option.
There are also fears among some adult workers across industries about reentering workplaces amid the pandemic and after so much time away, experts told USA Today.
To read the full USA Today report, click here.