Three words that workers don't hear from their bosses are "I was wrong".
James Gorman, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley, said his projection about the subsiding of the Pandemic was off when he was asked about employees returning to the office. Mr. Gorman thought we would be out of it by Labor Day. We are not.
Office workers watched as the events unfolded that were familiar to them: Covid case counts ballooned, and employer plans deflated. According to a New York Times database, the United States is reporting an average of more than 120,000 new Covid cases each day, up 40 percent from two weeks ago. New York City has seen a spike in large cases. Employers that had been growing bolder in their plans are now scaling back their ambitions for in-person business and socializing.
The 4,542 employees of the investment bank were asked to work from home because of the Covid cases. Goldman Sachs told its teams to delay their holiday parties, and the health care conference of JP Morgan Chase would go virtual. Morgan Stanley employees in New York and New Jersey were given more flexibility to stay home after Citigroup gave them the option to work remotely. Apple delayed its office return indefinitely, the latest in a number of employers that have conceded their corporate timelines are no match for the unpredictability of the virus.
In a memo to staff last week, the bank's president, Brian Friedman, and the chief executive, Rich Handler, wrote that since the beginning of December, the bank had experienced nearly 40 new Covid cases. Our priority now is to protect you and your family.
The finance industry had been confident in the value and relative safety of in-person work. According to the Partnership for New York City, by the end of January, 47 percent of finance workers in New York City were expected to go to the office every day. Financial firms are starting to backtrack.
The head of the partnership said that Covid is forcing a rollback of plans despite all best efforts. People are going to hunker down because of the Omicron factor.
Fidelity Investments, which has 52,000 employees around the world, paused its pilot program allowing workers to come back to their desks in some parts of the United States. Workers deemed essential will still report to the office, but other associates have been asked to work from home.
The need for extra protection against the Omicron variant becomes more clear as companies forge ahead on in-person work. The Washington Post told its staff that they will have to get boosters and submit to weekly testing once they return to work. The Metropolitan Opera, the National Football League and several universities have put in place some form of booster requirement, though few other private employers have come out publicly.
Benjamin Granger, an organizational psychologist at the software company Qualtrics who advises hundreds of clients on how to use the platform, said that customers were uncertain about whether or not to mandate boosters. I think we will see a cascade of them when the first domino falls.
As employers weigh vaccine guidelines and adjust office returns, they also face a challenge: How will they celebrate the holidays as Omicron spreads? Corporate teams had been eagerly anticipating holiday parties after a year of email. Dozens of companies scrambled to cancel their plans after party invitations went out.
The head of people and culture at Bevel, a communications consulting company with 30 employees, had started making arrangements for the company's holiday celebration in late September, which would involve a scavenger hunt, a make-your-own snow-globe session and hot cocoa. The company shifted to virtual celebrations when an employee tested positive for the virus.
Mr. Chee said that he was going back to basics and that he was going to charge employees for online yoga and meals.
Employers that held holiday parties right as cases were exploding are trying to help their workers manage the aftermath.
Some company leaders were criticized for taking a middle-of-the-road approach to party cancellation. The company decided not to host a holiday party because of Covid concerns. The chief executive and his wife held a celebration at the Plaza Hotel, which some of their employees attended.
A company official said that some of the team members were at the party. This was not a paid event.
Some people with companies that have continued with holiday festivities are wondering if they should risk it. Emily Crebbin, 24, who works for a global technology company, said she felt a sense of unease toggling between TikTok posts about the rapid spread of Omicron in New York City while she planned an outfit for her employer's holiday party on Friday.
She joined the company in July and was excited to spend time with colleagues, enjoying the open bar and passed Appetizers, but the gloom in her social media feeds has transported her back to the city's atmosphere in March 2020.
Last year we couldn't have a holiday party because we couldn't get everyone in New York to be vaccine free, but this year we were able to. I would not have to make the call if they canceled.
Even as office workers returned home and universities moved classes online, an elite group of politicians and executives held onto their plans for the annual conclave in the Swiss Alps. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which brings together political leaders and C.E.O.s, is still planned for next month, according to the organizers. Peter Vanham, a spokesman for the organization, said that so far there had been no cancellation of the event, which attracts thousands for a week of lectures, panel discussions, meals and parties.
The World Economic Forum was expected to make a decision on whether or not to go ahead with the event by January 6.
He said that the X factor was Omicron. The X factor will be bad by the end of the year.
David Gelles, Kellen Browning, Lauren Hirsch, and David Gelles contributed to the report.
