Many South Floridians Like Working From Home, Have Doubts About Going Back
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The move to "open up" is in ramp-up mode with more and more employees returning to the respective businesses.
For some, however, though they might not like to admit it, they kind of liked working from home.
"At one level people are used to being at home," said University of Miami professor of psychology Dr. Stephen Safren. "People are getting comfortable and it might be nice with a work from home lifestyle."
Plenty of people have found working at home convenient, time-saving, and like more with time for family, friends, and welcome diversion. So, they might not want to go back to their workplace where there are concerns about health and safety.
"I think what is strange to stressful about going back to work is no one has heard a clear message about what is okay in the case of social distancing and the transmission of COVID. Folks are nervous that not everyone will be practicing public health measures," said Safren.
Going back to work means employees rebuilding teams that have been gone for almost two months.
"It's going to be a little weird for some people I think," said Safren.
"Awkard?" asked CBS4's Hank Tester.
"I would think so, that's a good adjective," said Safren. "Just as it was awkward to start work from home. It is just getting over the hump and people will be fine."
The message is not lost on major corporations. Every day at noon, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg hosts a company-wide live webcast aimed at keeping 120,000 employees working at home in the loop.
"We're going to have a mix, where people are mixing between being at the office and sometimes working from home because it's actually working pretty well," he said.
On the flip side, those who were out of work and at home probably, despite the concerns, are anxious to get back to the job.