Almost half of Canadian home workers are worried about contracting Covid-19 upon their return to the office, according to research from Canada Life.
The study, conducted by Workplace Strategies for Mental Health on behalf of the insurer, found 46% of Canadians working from home were anxious about the threat of the virus if and when they returned to the office.
Concerns around contracting Covid outranked other considerations among home workers.
Just 10% of respondents indicated they were concerned about striking a new work-life balance, 9% said they were anxious about commuting to and from the office and less than 1% said their primary concern was the impact their return to the workplace would have on their children.
Commenting on the findings, Mary Ann Baynton, director of collaboration and strategy at Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, said: “Many Canadians are no doubt looking forward to getting back to a new normal as vaccines roll out and the pandemic subsides.
“But for those working from home, this transition presents new and unique concerns, because they’ve been more isolated and have been able to limit their exposure to the virus for a long time.
“Employers need to understand what their teams are concerned about so they can effectively support them during this significant adjustment.”