Few are in the situation where returning to the office makes sense. We adapted and busted our butts to set up home office arrangements and now the bank wants to pretend like we didn’t jump through hoops ourselves to maintain productivity.. well, guess what.. this situation can’t be treated the same for all and many people have excellent reasons for not wanting to return.
For example, many with kids still don’t have reliable child-care setups. There’s a shortage of available spots with child care, and people with school-aged children can have their kids sent home to quarantine with no notice whenever they have a potential COVID exposure. Moreover, people with kids who can’t be (or are too young to be) vaccinated need to worry about bringing COVID home to their families.
These aren’t “excuses” not to come back, and they’re definitely not signs that people don’t value their careers. They’re legitimate, well-founded reasons not to force folks to return until they’re comfortable - as long as they’re being productive.
All I have to say is- do not plan any face to face meetings, engagement events, etc.. I’ll do my job, keep my distance, and rush out to jump in rush hour traffic with that $5 a gallon gas that has been PROVEN to be so unnecessary… I’ll do this until I get a job at another company with the option to WFH.