Many employers expect to maintain the flexible and remote-working policies they’ve recently put in place once the coronavirus pandemic is over, according to a new survey by Willis Towers Watson. The survey, which polled 200 U.S. employers, found 59 per cent said they expect their work-from-home policies will remain in effect after the pandemic, while […]
With coronavirus cases starting to peak in some Canadian provinces, employers are likely beginning to prepare for a return to work once lockdown restrictions eventually ease. But work won’t be the same as it was before the pandemic, according to human resources experts speaking in a webinar hosted by the Ivey Business School on Friday. Val Duffey, an […]
Before the coronavirus pandemic, 20 per cent of BMO Financial Group’s 45,000 employees were working from home on a fairly regular basis. Since March, that’s jumped to 80 per cent. “We have, of course, people who are in branches who need to go in and serve customers face to face, but we have schooled up our work […]
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is supporting its U.S. staff during the coronavirus pandemic with a series of programs they can tune into remotely, from fitness classes to story time for kids. The firm scheduled the programming over two weeks, with a plan to update it on a rolling basis. To help employees connect, Goldman is offering […]
The majority of Canadian employers are aware of workers who can’t conform to their normal schedule because of family responsibilities while working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. According to a survey by the Conference Board of Canada, 86 per cent of employers are aware they have employees in these situations. Three-quarters (76 per cent) of these employers […]
As employers across the globe adjust their work environments to help slow down the spread of the coronavirus, one thing that shouldn’t get lost in the fray is a focus on supporting employees’ mental health. Employees are facing a myriad of stressors right now, including financial worries about the effects of the volatile market on […]
Nola Miller remembers the day she received 19 calls from her mother at work. As a group home co-ordinator for Winnipeg Child and Family Services, she’d mastered the demands of her job, but the stress of caring for her aging mother was weighing on her. “When you’re at work, and you’re getting calls like that, […]
All Canadian employers should assume at least one employee will test positive for the coronavirus, said Dr. Wendy Smeltzer, medical director at virtual health-care company Wello, during a webinar this week. “We all have to brace for this new normal and we all have to brace for the moment when every [business] will have at […]
Canadian politicians, public health officials and chief executive officers have all urged Canadians to practice social distancing in a bid to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic. Many global technology companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., Google and Twitter, ramped up work-from-home programs last week. And Ottawa-headquartered Shopify Inc. has emerged as a leader […]
More than half (56 per cent) of Canadians work from home on a regular basis, according to a new survey by Epson Canada Ltd. Among this group, 61 per cent of respondents said they do so on a full-time basis, while 78 per cent said they do it to have a better work-life balance and more flexibility. Almost […]