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New York Companies Further Delay Return to Offices

Nueva York - El American

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The Delta variant of Covid-19 has led many New York companies to again delay the return of their employees to the office after months of targeting September as the time for a return to normalcy.

September 7, the day after Labor Day, which is celebrated this Monday in the country, was the date that much of the business sector had set as the target date for the return of a majority of white-collar workers, but the data point to the fact that it will fall far short of the goal.

Of the more than one million office workers in Manhattan, New York’s nerve center, only an estimated 23% were showing up for work in August, according to a survey released in late August by The Partnership for New York City, a coalition of many of the largest businesses based in the city.

In the same poll, 41% of employees are estimated to be back by September 30, a far cry from the 62% projected for that date in May.

The rapid progress during the summer of the delta variant, which has once again increased the number of cases of coronavirus in the United States, has led many companies to rethink their plans, delaying returns at least until October.

Among them is the investment fund BlackRock, which has about 4,000 workers in New York who will initially only be required to report to work three days a week, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Others, such as tech giants Google and Amazon, which have a major presence in the Big Apple, have already said their employees will not return to the office until January.

Some of the big banks, such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, began requiring face-to-face work in June and July, but their example has not spread to too many companies.

New York authorities consider it vital to bring office workers back to Manhattan, on whom the survival of many businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, depends, and so the Mayor’s Office brought its officials back to the office last May.

The City requires its workers to be vaccinated or to undergo weekly Covid-19 testing, a system that has encouraged the private sector to implement to avoid contagion.

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