Source: www.hcamag.com
Almost half of Canadians are nervous about contracting COVID-19 on returning to their workplaces. According to emerging research from Canada Life, 46% of Canadian employees currently working from home have expressed anxiety over office reopening and what that means for health and safety.
“Many Canadians are no doubt looking forward to getting back to a ‘new normal’ as vaccines roll out and the pandemic subsides,” added Mary Ann Baynton, director of collaboration and strategy, Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. “But for those working from home, this transition presents new and unique concerns, because they’ve been more isolated and have been able to limit their exposure to the virus for a long time. Employers need to understand what their teams are concerned about so they can effectively support them during this significant adjustment.”
The research found that younger workers (aged between 18 to 34) are more anxious about office returns than their older colleagues – at 33% to 22%. What’s more, fear over contracting COVID-19 is having a greater detrimental impact on younger employee mental health (42%) compared to employees aged 55 and older (11%).