90% of CEOs to ask employees to report to work after they are vaccinated

Nearly half don’t expect a return to ‘normal’ until 2022.

Nine out of 10 CEOs globally are considering asking employees to report to work after they are vaccinated, according to the 2021 KPMG CEO Outlook Pulse Survey.

The survey also revealed that 61% of CEOs would rather wait for 50% of the population to be vaccinated before taking action towards returning to the offices.

Around 55% of CEOs are concerned about employees’ access to a COVID-19 vaccine whilst 34% are worried about misinformation on COVID-19 vaccine safety and the potential this may have on employees choosing not to have it administered.

Meanwhile, 76% of business leaders see government encouragement for businesses to return to normal as the prompt for businesses to ask staff to return to the workplace.

“Before any major decisions are made, CEOs want to be confident that their workforce is protected against this virus. The COVID-19 vaccine rollout is providing leaders with a dose of optimism as they prepare for a new reality. Our research shows that some executives have taken strong measures during the crisis to transform their operating model and ways of working, accelerating the rollout of key transformational projects, some by choice, some out of necessity,” said Bill Thomas, global chairman & CEO of KPMG.

The 2021 CEO Outlook Pulse Survey asks CEOs from the world’s most influential companies to provide their three-year outlook on the economic and business landscape, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The survey looks at how their views have evolved since July and August 2020.