After over a year of work-from-home, many are finding it hard to see themselves going back to the office, and subsequently find themselves looking for new jobs that are remaining remote. With many not wanting to go back to commuting, there may be a “Great Resignation” where businesses see a substantial number of their staff choose not to return to work. Regardless of whether an employer may or may not mandate a vaccination, are there accommodations that could be made in order to maintain employment levels? Here are three simplified strategies that small businesses could use to attempt to retain as many employees as possible.

Make Remote Work A Benefit

This one is the simplest and most self-explanatory. If you have successfully had employees working from home during the pandemic, it may be worth it to allow employees to continue working remotely. As a businessowner, you could use full time remote work as an incentive for current employees to continue working as productively as expected. Employees who don’t meet expectations could be required to work from an office location part or all of the time until conditions are met to allow full-time remote work again.

By making remote work a benefit and allowing most employees to work from home a business could cut down substantially on overhead. Office space in America averages between $8 and $23 per square foot, and a typical employee workspace is around 100 square feet. By shrinking office size, a company stands to save thousands of dollars per year. Additionally, the less obvious cost saving comes when you no longer need expensive printers or costly cubicles; companies that currently subsidize transit (see below) may even save space by no longer needing to offer that subsidy. Even offering a stipend for employees to prepare their home office could still result in a net savings.

Rotationally Remote

Much like making remote work a benefit, making remote work and office work on a rotation may also be an acceptable middle ground for employees who would otherwise walk. It’s important to ensure the rotation is practical and makes sense though; your employees have worked remote successfully for months, so it’s equally important to make it clear why the employees need to be in the office.

When considering a rotation schedule there are quite a few benefits to account for that may entice employees. With fewer people coming into the office on a given day there is less need for space, as illustrated above; some of the cost savings could be reinvested into employees by providing catered lunches from local restaurants or more literally, offering raises.

Another key consideration is how to structure the rotation – will employees be week on/week off, or will the schedule be day-by-day? This type of preference is something that is best determined by simply conducting a poll of employees who are in favor of a rotational schedule. For some, week on/week off may be acceptable, whereas day-by-day is a complete deal-breaker. Discussing with employees and finding out their preferences is key to retaining happy, productive people.

Subsidize Transit

Despite vaccination rates on the rise, many are still hesitant to take mass transit and it is highly unlikely that the US will reach herd immunity any time soon. For employees whose primary concern is exposure on public transit, offering a benefit to subsize their transit costs may make an employee feel safe enough to come back to the office.

Offering a transit benefit could include things like agreements with local parking garages for discounted rates, or if that isn’t possible simply providing the employees a parking stipend. For employees who don’t have their own car this could come in the form of a stipend to use a ridesharing service.

For many, commute time is a large deciding factor in whether or not they want to, or will, return to the office. For some of these people even subsidizing them for that time may not work, but by making an employee feel like their commute is no longer “wasted time” then they may be willing to come back to in-person work.