Globe and Mail: Canadians delay return to office amid Delta variant concerns.

Despite initially planning for a return to the office this fall, companies across Canada are now starting to push back the expected date to early 2022, marking nearly two years of remote work. Plans are being deferred due to the surge in the Delta variant of COVID-19, and companies continue to deliberate on how to organize the complexities of flexible work arrangements while balancing employee preferences. U.S.-based companies are also following suit.

“Most, if not all, the companies we work with made the decision to push back the work-from-home policy to the new year,” said Jean-François Vézina, executive vice-president for Canada for recruitment company Randstad Sourceright. “They realized the cases are rising and that it’s not worth the risk in the long term.”

Vézina expects to see companies open their offices in the spring of 2022, but believes that could be pushed to the second or third quarter if the situation with the Delta variant stays the same or worsens.

Learn more about how Delta is impacting employers in The Globe and Mail , then visit our Canada stream for additional insights, articles and case studies.