Workplace
Employers Brace for Covid’s Mental Health Fallout as Workers Return
Companies are slowly calling staff back to the office. They bring with them the emotional scars of a year filled with fear, isolation and sorrow.
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From casual Fridays to after-work drinks, those weekly rituals once taken for granted are returning as Americans head back to the office. And while masks, plexiglass and empty conference rooms will alter the cubescape, employers are nevertheless invested in getting things back to normal—or at least as normal as possible.
But that won’t be easy. Covid-19’s damage may be felt in the workplace long after the disease has receded. That’s thanks to the mental and emotional toll the pandemic has taken on employees who, like everyone else, have spent the past year living in fear, isolation and sorrow.