BETHESDA, MD., May 13, 2021<\/p>\n
According to the 2021 Return to the Office Survey published today by <\/span>Brivo<\/span><\/a>, the global leader in cloud access control and related technologies, and <\/span>WhosOnLocation<\/span><\/a>, a provider of people presence management software, 53% of workers expect to be back in a physical office full-time within the next six months. However, 59% of respondents have expressed health and safety concerns about returning, with the highest levels of anxiety emerging from personnel in professional services, such as finance, IT, recruitment\/HR (72%), and creative services, including voluntary\/charity workers, marketing\/PR, arts & design (62%).<\/span><\/p>\n According to respondents, the biggest concerns about returning to work are:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As outlined on Brivo\u2019s <\/span>Commercial Reopening Index<\/span><\/a>, 59% of the U.S. is reopened with agriculture\/forestry\/fishing, construction, and retail as the top three reopened industries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs COVID vaccines roll out, organizations that have been operating remotely or at lower capacities are now planning for a return to offices and other workplaces. While some may remain remote permanently, those who are returning need to address health and safety,\u201d said Steve Van Till, CEO, and founder of Brivo. \u201cPeople need simple, practical ways to enforce contact tracing, social distancing, and healthy building requirements.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Darren Whitaker-Barnett, CEO of WhosOnLocation, added, \u201cDespite the shift to remote and hybrid work arrangements during the pandemic, it\u2019s clear that the office still plays an integral role in driving culture and collaboration. Flexible technology will help organizations welcome employees back to the office while ensuring the health and wellbeing of everyone on site.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When asked which solutions would give them the most confidence in returning, the results showed that 49% prefer temperature scanning as the main solution, with limiting the number of people on site (39%), touchless door entry (34%), and mask detection (32%) close behind. Touch-free sign-in and sign-out for contact tracing and social distancing measures were also highlighted, at 30% and 29% respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n For workers who remained in offices throughout the pandemic, the vast majority have been satisfied with the practices, protocols, and technologies that their organizations have implemented to protect them against COVID-19. The most common protective measures include providing masks, hand sanitizer, or other gear (73%); increasing cleaning protocols (59%); enforcing physical distancing (55%); and requiring temperature checks or thermal scanning for on-site access (48%).<\/span><\/p>\n Brivo and WhosOnLocation provide technology solutions to help businesses protect the health and safety of their employees, customers, contractors, visitors, students, and residents as they re-enter facilities. Organizations can leverage the Brivo <\/span>Facility Safety Features<\/span><\/a> and WhosOnLocation\u2019s presence management solutions to protect everyone in their buildings and improve access control and on-site safety and security in the \u2018new normal.\u2019 Tools include occupancy tracking, contact reporting, personnel control, visitor management and reporting, touchless sign-in and mobile self-screening.<\/span><\/p>\n Complete Results Methodology<\/b> About WhosOnLocation\n
\n<\/b>Complete results are available via the Brivo <\/span>website<\/span><\/a> in the <\/span>2021 Brivo Return to Work Report: Transitioning Back to The Office After COVID<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which details why businesses are returning to the office, how COVID has changed employee needs and ways employers can address workplace concerns through touchless technology and access control.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>This survey was conducted via email in March 2021, using an audience of Survey Monkey users as respondents. Five hundred thirty-eight people took the survey. Responses came from all U.S. states except Vermont and Wyoming, with the highest numbers coming from California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Twenty-five industries were represented with the highest percentages from healthcare, IT\/computing, retail, and education. A plurality of respondents occupied the staff level (44.2%), followed by manager (26%), administrator\/associate (16%), director (6%), C-suite (6%), and vice president (1.38%). Slightly more males than females (52% to 49%) participated. Age brackets broke down as follows: 45-60: 33%; 30-44: 31% 18-29: 22%; 60 and older: 14%.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>WhosOnLocation, an MRI Software company, provides people presence management software to monitor the safe and secure movement of people through buildings and work sites. Our powerful, cloud-based solution unites visitor, contractor, employee, and emergency management, enabling organizations to secure their facilities and ensure the safety of every person on-site. Armed with a rich, unified source of people presence information, our users are empowered to make more strategic, data-driven decisions that mitigate risk, reduce overhead costs, and streamline operations. Compliant with ISO:27001 2013 for Information Security Management. WhosOnLocation serves organizations in 42 countries around the world and manages over 60 million secure movements through thousands of locations each year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n