Travelers indefinitely delays return to office for thousands in downtown Hartford as omicron infections spike [Hartford Courant]

Hartford Courant (CT)

The insurance giant Travelers Cos., which employs thousands in downtown Hartford, is delaying indefinitely its broad-based return to the office as concerns grow about the COVID-19 omicron variant and a recent spike in infection rates.

The property-casualty insurer had planned a return to downtown offices beginning Jan. 18.

In an internal letter Monday obtained by The Courant and confirmed by the insurer, Travelers chairman and chief executive Alan Schnitzer told employees that “we will need to hit the pause once again on our return-to-office plans.”

“Your next question is no doubt, ‘Until when?’ Schnitzer wrote. “I wish I could tell you. Until we have a better sense of what the course of the pandemic is going to take, we don’t have clarity to answer that question.”

Within the broader business community in greater Hartford, leaders said Tuesday they weren’t surprised that Travelers had again put off a return to the office.

“When you see New York voluntarily shutting a lot of things down, you know it’s a real thing that we’re dealing with now,” David Griggs, president and chief executive of the MetroHartford Alliance, the regional chamber of commerce.

The recent surge in infections compounds uncertainty that has existed throughout the pandemic for employers, Griggs said. Just when it appears the coronavirus is on the wane, there is an unexpected turn such as the omicron variant, he said.

Going forward without a return to office date appears to acknowledge the reality of not knowing how many more times there may be an increase in infections or a new variant.

“It almost feels like a fool’s errand to set a date,” Griggs said.

Travelers, the property-casualty insurer, employs about 7,000 in and around the downtown Hartford area and is a major contributor to foot traffic during the workday that fuels patrons for downtown restaurants, shops and other businesses.

Top city officials in Hartford said Tuesday that they are in regular contact with employers of all sizes and recognize the need to make individual decisions about when they return to the office.

“While the omicron wave has fostered some uncertainty, if people get all of their vaccinations and workplaces implement mitigation measures, we hope more workers will be back downtown sooner than later in the new year,” Thea Montanez, the city’s chief operating officer, said, in a statement.

Schnitzer acknowledged the “false starts” in returning the office, stretching back early in the fall and wrote he hoped employees would be ready to return when “the time is right.”

Schnitzer said all employees who need it will have at least a month’s notice before they are expected to return to the office.

Travelers’ delay amid the stunning recent increase COVID-19 infections is the latest among corporate employers in the city who are cautiously tracking the course of the pandemic.

Earlier this month, The Hartford Financial Services Group, the property-casualty insurer that employs about 6,000 in Connecticut and thousands at its headquarters in Hartford’s Asylum Hill, said it would delay the return of senior managers to the office. At that time, a broad-based return to the office was still set for Jan. 18.

The Hartford did not immediately respond to an email asking if there were any changes to its return to office plans for January. A “few hundred” senior leaders of The Hartford had been scheduled to return to the office earlier this month, ahead of other employees, but that was delayed because of the omicron variant. However, at the time, there was no change in plans for a Jan. 18 return of all employees.

The return of office workers is seen as crucial by some downtown residential developers because the workers give a firm foundation for restaurants and other businesses. In turn those restaurants, shops and entertainment venues are seen as key to attracting more people to rent an increasing number of apartments under construction.

In his letter, Schnitzer expressed optimism about the future and a return to the office. He noted Moderna’s announcement this week that its booster shot is “highly effective in preventing infection, severe disease and death from omicron,” following a similar announcement from Pfizer earlier this month.

Schnitzer encouraged all employees to get the vaccine and a booster.

“In the meantime, our office remain open for those of you who would like to come in,” Schnitzer wrote. “For now, we are limiting access to employees who have confirmed their status in Workday as fully vaccinated.”

“Omicron isn’t the first curveball the pandemic has thrown our way, and it might not be the last,” Schnitzer wrote. “But with each new twist and turn since March 2020, you’ve shown extraordinary resilience, dedication and professionalism.”

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at [email protected].