NEW YORK (AP) — Last summer, Julio Carmona began the process of weaning himself from a fully remote work schedule by coming into the office once a week.
The new hybrid schedule at her job at a state agency in Stratford, Connecticut, still allowed her to spend time cooking dinner for her family and taking her teenage daughter to basketball.
But in the coming months, he faces the prospect of more mandatory days at the office. And that’s creating stress for the father of three.
Carmona, 37, whose father died of COVD-19 last year, worries about contracting the virus but also checks off a list of other anxieties: higher lunch and gas costs, daycare costs for her newborn baby and her struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
“Working from home has been a lot less stressful when it comes to work-life balance,” said Carmona, who works in finance at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. “You are more productive because there are far fewer distractions.”
As more businesses demand a return to the office, workers must readjust to pre-pandemic rituals like long commutes, juggling childcare and physical interaction with colleagues. But such routines have become more difficult two years later. Spending more time with colleagues could increase exposure to the coronavirus, for example, while inflation has increased the costs of lunch and commutes.
Among workers who worked remotely and returned at least one day a week in person, more say things have generally gotten better than worse and that they have been more productive rather than less, according to an April Associated Press survey. -NORC. Shows the Public Affairs Research Center. But the stress level of these workers is high.
Overall, among employed adults, the April AP-NORC survey shows that 16% say they work remotely, 13% work both remotely and in person, and 72% say they work only in person.
Thirty-nine percent of employees who had worked at home but returned to the office say that the way things are going has generally improved since returning to the workplace in person, while 23% say that things got worse; 38% say things have stayed the same. Forty-five percent say the amount of work done has improved, while 18% say it has gotten worse.
But 41% of returning workers say the amount of stress they experience has gotten worse; 22% say it has improved and 37% say it has not changed.
Even workers who have been in person during the pandemic are more negative than positive about how the pandemic has affected their work lives. Thirty-five percent say the way things are going in general has gotten worse, while 20% say it has gotten better. Fifty percent say their stress has gotten worse, while only 11% say it has gotten better; 39% say there is no difference.
At least half of on-site workers say balancing responsibilities, potential COVID exposure at work, their commute to work, and social interaction are sources of stress. But less than a third call these “top” sources of stress.
People with children were more likely to report that their return was having an adverse effect, in part due to concerns about keeping their families safe from COVID and maintaining a better work-life balance. Most said it could help relieve stress if their employer provided more flexible work options and workplace safety precautions against the virus. But for some workers, a physical comeback, in any form, will be difficult to navigate.
“A lot of people have gotten used to working from home. It’s been two years,” said Jessica Edwards, national director of strategic alliances and development at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a US-based advocacy group. “For companies, it’s about putting mental health first and being communicative about it. They shouldn’t be afraid to ask their employees how they’re really doing.”
Companies like Vanguard are now expanding virtual wellness workshops that began in the early days of the pandemic or before. They are also expanding the benefits to include meditation and virtual therapy apps. Meanwhile, Target, which has not set a mandatory return, is giving teams the flexibility to adjust meeting times to be earlier or later in the day to accommodate employee schedules.
There is a lot at stake. Estimates show that untreated mental illness can cost businesses up to $300 billion a year, largely due to impacts on productivity, absenteeism, and increases in medical and disability expenses, according to the National Alliance. on Mental Illnesses.
Russ Glass, CEO of online mental health and wellness platform Headspace Health, said he has seen a fourfold increase in the use of behavioral health coaching and a fivefold increase in clinical services such as therapy and psychiatric help during the pandemic compared to the days before the pandemic. With apps like Ginger and Headspace, the company serves more than 100 million people and 3,500 businesses. Among the top concerns: anxiety about contracting COVID-19 and struggles with work-life balance.
“We haven’t seen it diminish. That level of care has remained high,” Glass said.
The constant wave of new waves of viruses has not helped.
Francine Yoon, a 24-year-old food scientist at Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition North America in Itasca, Ill., has been working mostly in person since the pandemic, including at her current job that started last fall. Yoon said that her company has helped alleviate anxiety by doing things like creating empty meeting rooms and offices to create more distance for those who experience any form of anxiety about being around colleagues.
But moving in last year with her elderly parents, both in their early 60s, has led to a heightened level of anxiety because she worries about passing the virus on to them. She said every spike in new cases creates some anxiety.
“When the cases are low, I feel comfortable and confident that I am okay and that I will be okay,” she said. “When power surges happen, I can’t help but become cautious.”
As for Carmona, she is trying to reduce her stress and is considering participating in her office’s online meditation sessions. He is also thinking of carpooling to reduce gas costs.
“I’m one of those people who take it day by day,” she said. “You have to try to keep your stress level balanced because your brain will go crazy thinking about things that could go crazy.”
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,085 adults was conducted April 14-18 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The sampling error margin for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
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AP Halleluya Staff Writer Hadero in New York contributed to this report.
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