93% employees fear health risks on returning to office: Survey

A wide majority of employees working in the corporate sector in India are stressed about going back to work after the end of the lockdown, a survey has found.

Most employees want their employers to take responsibility for their healthcare. They want their office spaces to be sanitised before they return. The survey conducted by MindMap Advance Research at the behest of FYI, a health tech community product, was conducted during lockdown in April and had a sample size of 560 employees in small, medium and large enterprises in metro cities of Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Around 93 percent of employees are anxious to return to office fearing their health maybe compromised in the process. Another 99 per cent said that they would like to see a system of Corporate Health Responsibility (CHR) made mandatory for employers while 82 per cent said that they would willing to participate in measures that require them to be monitored. The rest 18 percent also agreed provided the privacy of their data was assured.

"It may be an understatement to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we live and work. This event has very quickly served as a tipping point to unprecedented change in the mind-set and attitudes of people, to both life and work," said said Yeishan Goel, Cofounder, FYI. "Our survey informs India Inc. of the new priorities they would need to juggle when it comes to the health and safety of their employees. India Inc. employees are clearly stressed on account of their health and that needs to be managed on priority. Evidence supports the fact that happier and secure employees are more productive and perform their jobs better while those under stress, perform worse."

Many of the responses are on expected lines. About 81 per cent said that employees would resume work only in batches, while 73 per cent expect employers to enforce work from home as an ongoing process. The survey also pointed the level of stress has increased during lockdown with 59 per cent concerned about their health, 25 per cent anxious about their financial situation, while 16 per cent fear a prolonged crisis with high levels of uncertainty on all fronts.

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