The government has implemented partial “back to the office” guidelines, but how swiftly are they being implemented? Our survey of 87 Israeli tech companies has revealed that most companies prefer a “wait and see” approach rather than rushing to end the WFH policy caused by COVID-19.

Read on to find out why the ecosystem is hesitant to send employees back to the offices, and what changes in national infrastructure policy would need to be made for a more widespread adoption of the government’s “back to the office” guidelines.

What is your current policy after the new instructions on office attendance?

Despite the government’s new guidelines allowing more employees to work from the office, 75% of Israeli tech companies continue to prefer a WFH policy for now.

What is your current policy after the new instructions on office attendance?
(Breakdown by Company Size)

The larger the company, the more likely it is to prefer that employees stay home.

 

What is your assessment on the productivity in a partial return mode (30-50% of employees)?

Although Israeli companies are generally supportive of the new government’s flexibility, 77% of them worry that they will lead to a decline in productivity.

 

What is required for you to assign a policy that calls for employees to return to the office?

As we mentioned in another recent survey of HR leads, the lockdown of the education system is a major impediment for companies trying to bring their workforce back to the office, as is the lack of public transportation.

In what we consider to be one of the most interesting revelations from the survey, 29% of companies are considering allowing some kind of WFH policy even after the immediate COVID-19 crisis is over.

 

How are you going to control the number of employees coming to the office?

Israeli companies are evaluating a number of different strategies to implement the “back to the office” guidelines, as there is no single solution being implemented across the ecosystem.

 

How do you assess your ability to comply with the “purple badge”?

Two thirds of companies find the restrictions reasonable from a compliance standpoint.