Phoenix will soon start transitioning some of its 14,000 workers back to offices. Up to 30% of city employees have been working from home but that’s expected to change this month.
March 29 will mark the city’s first phase. That’s when teleworkers who choose to return to the office can as long as capacity is kept to 25%. Capacity limits are not for areas where employees have already been working onsite.
In a podcast distributed to employees, Human Resources Director Lori Bays described workplace changes.
“Plexiglass barriers on reception counters and other areas within the workplace, we have touchless faucets in our restrooms, we have stickers on our floors and in our elevators to demarcate exactly where people should stand to stay socially distanced,” she said. “We have reduced the number of chairs in our conferences rooms so that when an in-person meeting may be necessary the appropriate number of people are in that room but in no case more than ten people.”
A date for the second phase will depend on COVID-19 case numbers and vaccinations but Phoenix will limit capacity to 50% and offer an ongoing telework option post-COVID.
“One of the positive things that has come out of the pandemic is that we’ve learned that we can incorporate telework successfully in some of our jobs within the city,” Bay said. “And it has actually been an asset in many cases where we’ve had employees who have been more productive and have had a really good experience teleworking and it’s worked really well for their departments as well.
The final phase is expected sometime this summer when Phoenix expects all employees to have had the opportunity to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
