When will Aflac, other big Columbus companies return to the office? Here’s what we know
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, office spaces at major Columbus companies have sat mostly empty. But increasing vaccination rates, new public health guidance and other positive trends could soon change that.
Aflac, Global Payments and Syonvus are evaluating plans for a majority of their employees to be back to the office, at least part of the time.
These conversations were happening before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new advice Thursday that says fully vaccinated folks can largely ditch masks, representatives told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Yet, the CDC’s guidance for businesses and employers was last updated in March. Under that guidance, it’s recommended that workers wear masks in accordance with CDC and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance as well as any state or local requirements. It’s unclear how that guidance will change moving forward.
The three large, Columbus-based companies will continue to monitor the pandemic and make adjustments to their plans. Here’s when their employees might be back at the office.
Aflac
Aflac, a Fortune 500 company and Columbus-based insurer with an international footprint, still has 95% of its employees working from home on a consistent basis. The company also continues to limit international travel, corporate spokesperson Jon Sullivan told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email.
Of the company’s more than 11,000 employees in Japan and the U.S., 3,800 work in Columbus.
If current trends continue, Aflac hopes to have half of its workforce back in the office by early 2022, at least part of the time. However, that timetable could shift as factors change, Sullivan said.
Those were the plans before the CDC issued new masking wearing guidance. In response to a follow up email, Sullivan said he was unable to immediately estimate how the new guidance might change the company’s plans.
“Like many other companies, our employees are asking for continued flexibility in their work,” he said. “We know that our post-pandemic work environment will look different. With safety at the forefront, we will also be looking to create any efficiencies that could come as a result of lessons learned during the pandemic. While we do anticipate some individuals working either from home or in a hybrid situation, many factors will go into these decisions, not the least of which are safety, efficiency and work output.”
Global Payments
Global Payments, a financial technology services company with dual headquarters in Atlanta and Columbus, has had a “vast majority” of its 24,000 employees working remotely since mid-March 2020, Emily Edmonds, a spokesperson for Global Payments, said in a statement.
More than 4,000 of those employees are based in Columbus.
The company began allowing employees back to the office voluntarily in June 2020. In the U.S., the company hopes to bring employees back to the office this summer in states where allowed. Internationally, the company is following the guidelines put forth in that country. International travel is not allowed without executive approval, Edmonds said.
In Columbus, the company is continuing to evaluate its “workspace needs” in the aftermath of the 2019 merger of TSYS and Global Payments. However, Edmonds said the company is not closing any portion of its business.
The company works closely with each facility to implement safety measures that help protect employees, including contactless temperature checks, physical distancing practices, mask mandates and preventive cleaning measures, Edmonds said.
Edmonds was unable to say how the CDC’s new mask guidance for vaccinated people might affect Global Payments’ return plans in the United States.
“We are evaluating changes to our work environments accelerated by the pandemic including various remote work options and making sure we find the right balance between remote and in-person work to meet the needs of our business, customers and team members,” she said.
Synovus
Synovus, the Columbus-based banking and financial services provider, said about 35% of its employees were working from home — down from nearly 60% in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, spokesperson Lee Underwood told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email.
The company said it expects that most of its employees will return to the office later this summer or early this fall. The new guidance from the CDC doesn’t change that estimation, Underwood said Thursday afternoon. The company has roughly 5,200 employees, with 1,900 of them based in the Chattahoochee Valley.
“We continue to monitor the situation, with team member, customer and community safety as our top priority,” he said.
This story was originally published May 17, 2021 at 6:00 AM.