NBC News: “You spend more of your waking hours with your colleagues than you do with your family. A lot of people are ready to go back to the office once it’s safe.” Only about 1 in 10 companies expect all employees to return to their pre-pandemic work arrangements, according to a new survey. The National Association for Business Economics found that just 11 percent of survey respondents expect all staff members at their companies to return eventually. Around 65 percent of companies have allowed “most” or “all” of their staff members to work from home during the pandemic, and about half of respondents said they plan to continue the policies until the second half of the year. “For the most part, companies that are able to provide work-from-home are doing so and are continuing to do so,” said Andrew Challenger, vice president of the executive outplacement and coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Challenger said his conversations with human resources executives indicated a reluctance to mandate a return to the office while the virus is still circulating and parts of the country face surges. In some cases, local or state lockdowns, school and day care closings or restrictions on building capacities also limit employers’ options…”