Calgary offices prepare for return of staff after 2 years of work from home

Jason Heilman and Ryan Sinclair have kept going to the office throughout most of the pandemic.

They work for a small oil and gas company in in downtown Calgary and say they're glad they'll soon start seeing a lot more people around.

"The core was dead," said Sinclair. "It was depressing how many people weren't there and how many businesses have left."

"We just walked out of a restaurant, so we are pretty happy for it to be getting back to normal here," Heilman added.

In less than two weeks, Alberta will no longer require people to work from home, if that's an option for them.

But after nearly two years, it may be tough for staff to get used to being back in the office.

"There certainly are some who are anxious to have everyone back in the office as quickly as possible," said Scott Crockatt with the Business Council of Alberta.

"But the majority from what I'm hearing are going to be offering a little bit more flexibility in the future because they found certain kinds of work can be done very productively from home."

The Business Council of Alberta says at least 230,000 Calgarians worked at least partly from home in January.

It says the workplaces they return to will be changing.

"I think the office of the future will look a little bit different," said Crockatt. "The reality is, in Calgary right now, we've still got a lot more office space than we need, 30 per cent vacancy still, so I think employers will take advantage of that, allowing employees more space. I suspect we will also see more splitting up of different teams and less cross pollination in the early days."

Some businesses say they will stagger the return of staff, while others plan to offer a hybrid work week, with employees working from both home and the office.

Kristen Warner is an accountant who has worked from home for the entirety of the pandemic.

She has mixed feelings about going back to the office.

"It's the socialization that everyone is missing the most. At home, it's routine. I wear sweats all day, that's a benefit for sure ... and the commute is really good."