Return to office paused (again) as COVID rages: Will we ever go back?

The omicron variant has thrown America's great return to the office into disarray – perhaps for months.

Most companies who had notified employees they would need to come back to the office at least part time early next year have pushed back those plans or are considering doing so because of the latest COVID-19 spike, according to human resources experts and surveys.

Among those slamming the brakes on office reopenings are household names such as Apple, Ford Motor and Fidelity Investments.

“Most executives have just abandoned the return to the office” until omicron no longer poses a health threat, says Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economics professor who has studied the work-from-home trend and spoken to officials at several hundred companies.