A growing number of companies are telling their employees to continue working remotely through the rest of 2020, the Boston Globe reports.
Over the past few weeks, major employers including MassMutual, Tufts Health Plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Wayfair have delayed their projected return until January the earliest, according to the Globe, which accounts for more than 15,000 employees.
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Blue Cross workers were told to plan to work remotely for at least another four months after Labor Day Thursday.
The work-from-home life has proven popular among employees, with 39% of people polled in a recent MassINC Polling Group survey indicating that they'd prefer to work from home every day after reopening. Additionally, two-thirds of the respondents believed the state's transportation system will need "big changes" coming out of the COVID-19 crisis.
There's also uncertainty around how back-to-school will look in Massachusetts this fall as the state collects preliminary reopening plans from districts, which are due by the end of the day Friday. Schools must develop reopening plans for three possible scenarios: A full-scale return to school, a mix of in-person and remote learning or exclusive remote learning.
In Phase 3 of Gov. Charlie Baker's reopening plan, businesses are allowed to operate at 50% capacity, but the Boston Globe reports that occupancy rates in many office towers in Boston are around a 5% and around 15 to 20% in the suburbs.
