Lessons from Wuhan | Is 'warming up' something staff should do before office return?

With vaccinations continuing to be administered within the UK and the number of infections dropping, according to the ONS, HR’s current roadmap is set firmly on the return to some semblance of normality – with a return to the office being a major factor in this move.

And as England gradually starts to emerge from a national lockdown – guided by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ‘roadmap’ – employers and HR will be thinking about when and how to return staff members to a physical workplace.

But where can HR look to see a potential snapshot of what this new normal will look like? The answer may well be Wuhan – the city in which the coronavirus was first discovered.

As was reported by Management Today, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Business Administration explored the effects of both the city of Wuhan’s 76-day lockdown period on worker mental health, and how workers made a return to work.