We meant to post this a few weeks ago, but with the layoffs, angry letters about the layoffs, FY 2020 global revenues, and new partner promotions at EY taking up a lot of our time of late, this got put on the back burner.
Thanks to a source, here is the return-to-the-office update from Jay Persaud, EY Americas vice chair of risk management, that was sent to all U.S. employees in late August:
The COVID-19 global pandemic continues with many countries around the world experiencing second waves following an initial decline while the US continues to experience the first wave. The science is also advancing — with increased knowledge of the functioning of the virus, testing, therapeutics and work towards a vaccine.
Let me start by addressing a question that continues to come up: “When will I be asked to return to work from an EY office or client site?” Here’s what you need to know:
- Our framework does not contemplate a requirement to return to EY offices until AFTER Phase 3 of our Return to Office (RTO) plan (as described in your playbook).
- We have not and are not setting a specific date when we will stop considering work from home to be the default.
- We can say with certainty that you will not be required to return to an EY office prior to January 2021. (You may be required to work at an approved client site to accommodate a client’s needs, but only if you feel comfortable doing so. Otherwise, you can continue to work from home.)
As we’ve stated from the onset, your health and safety are our primary concern. We remain cautious and meticulous in our approach and continue to monitor the conditions that would allow us to reopen our offices as an option for those who want to work in that environment.
As we look forward through the Fall, we expect that a limited number of our smaller offices in areas where the virus is under control will meet the conditions for entering Phase 1 of our RTO plan (up to 10% of seating capacity). This will provide an option for people who want to work somewhere other than home. We expect, and fully support, that most of our people will continue to work from home — it remains our default option.
Conversely, we expect that our larger and more complex office locations, particularly in geographies where there is less employee demand to reopen and with a heavy dependence on mass transit (such as metro NYC, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia) will be among the last to enter our Phase 1 RTO plan (not before January 2021).
So unless you’re hellbent on being in the office with other lifeforms who are dressed exactly like you, EYers can take advantage of the no-pants lifestyle for a few months longer.
Photo illustration: QueenOfInfographics
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