More than three-quarters of employed U.S. adults (79%) are satisfied with their employers’ pandemic-related return-to-work plans, according to the results of the latest American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor® online survey conducted by The Harris Poll.
Eight in 10 men (83%) compared to seven in 10 women (74%) are satisfied with such plans, while generations also differ in their satisfaction levels—with Baby Boomers (85%), Millennials (82%), and Gen X (77%) all more satisfied, and Gen Z (62%) less content.
In fact, eight in 10 workers are pleased with their employers’ response to the pandemic specifically in regard to:
- Office cleanliness protocols: 85%
- Remote/telework policy: 82%
- Communication from employers about the Covid-19 pandemic: 81%
- Benefits (e.g., paid leave, sick leave, etc.): 80%
When planning for employee returns to “brick-and-mortar” job sites, organizations must consider a range of measures to ensure the safety of their workforces. Employed adults indicated that the top five measures that would be critical for them to feel safe on the job are:
- Social distancing measures (e.g., signage, plan for communal areas, reduced number of staff in workplaces at a time, etc.): 53%
- Detailed cleaning protocols: 46%
- Covid-19 testing offered to employees: 44%
- Personal protective equipment required (i.e., masks): 44%
- Temperature/symptom screening: 43%
However, 7% of those employed said that nothing would make them feel safe on the job during the pandemic, with workers in the health care sector more likely to cite this fear (14%) than those in the professional–managerial (6%) and engineering, scientific, and IT (2%) industry sectors. One in 10 workers in the industrial (8%) and office–clerical and administrative (7%) sectors also share this concern.
“Worker health, safety, and well-being are of the utmost importance to all employers, but are even more top-of-mind as the nation continues to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic and businesses begin to resume traditional work and operations,” said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer. “As part of its continued commitment to safety, ASA is providing new return-safely-back-to-work best practice protocols for all employers, and a checklist specific to ensuring the safety of temporary and contract workers.”
To learn more about the ASA Workforce Monitor, visit americanstaffing.net/workforce-monitor. You can also follow ASA research on Twitter.
Method
The Harris Poll conducted the survey online within the U.S. on behalf of ASA, June 16–18, 2020, among a total of 2,065 U.S. adults age 18 and older, of whom 1,134 are employed full time or part time, or are self-employed. Results were weighted on age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, household income, and geographic region where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the U.S. population. In addition, the data were adjusted for differences between the online and offline populations.
