America This Week: Mask-Dropping, WFH and DEI, Unionization and Brand Reputation and American Insomnia

The latest trends in society from The Harris Poll.

Good morning from New York: In The Harris Poll fielded February 18th to 20th, 2022 among 2,033 U.S. adults, we see in new polling with Axios how many Americans aren’t yet comfortable dropping COVID restrictions and in a separate story, that many women, BIPOC workers feel better about their career working from home. With our friends at Morning Brew we research the impact of anti-unionization efforts on brand reputation, and with U.S. News, how the pandemic is exacerbating Americans’ sleeping problem.

Tune in for our?America This Week: From The Harris Poll?audio event this Friday at 10am EST on LinkedIn for my regular half-hour discussion with Harris CSO Libby Rodney. We’ll be discussing these stories and more.

Have a great rest of the week!

-?John Gerzema[email protected]

1. America’s Rapid - Yet Unequal - Pandemic Off-Ramp: Axios-Harris Poll

America is accelerating toward a return to pre-pandemic life, though millions of people aren't yet comfortable abandoning pandemic precautions - or they feel downright threatened by the rapid reversal according to?our latest survey with Axios.

• Driving the news:?Businesses and policymakers across the country are removing mask and vaccine mandates, loosening COVID protocols and encouraging more in-person interaction.
• However, just over half (55%) said they?agreed that it's the right time?for states to begin lifting their indoor mask mandates, with Republicans much more likely to agree than Democrats.
• Plenty will be masking anyways:?Three-quarters said they'll keep their masks on if the public majority voluntarily does, and (70%) said they'll wear a mask if they don't know whether the people around them are vaccinated.
• Continued masking may be in part to (71%) of Americans that believe?that COVID-19 is now a part of daily life and will last in some form?(v. 29% remaining hopeful it will become eradicated).

Takeaway:?Employers are also dropping mask mandates and, in some cases, setting return-to-work dates,?AP reports. However, based on other Harris surveys, companies?will need to follow best practices?and understand who does - and does not - want to be back in the office full time.??

2. The Unequal Return to the Office: Axios-Harris Poll

In?our latest survey with Axios, we found that women and People of Color are generally happier working from home and are likelier than their white male colleagues to want to continue working remotely.

• Just over half (52%) of women say they?enjoy working remotely and would like to do so in the long term, compared with (41%) of men.
• Only (15%) of women say working in person?allows for more camaraderie among colleagues, compared with one-quarter (25%) of men.
• Over half (52%) of Black workers and (50%) of women say working from home is better than working in the office?when it comes to advancing in their careers, compared with (42%) of men.
• Three-fifths (63%) of Black workers and (58%) of women say they?feel more ambitious when working from home versus the office. Just (46%) of men feel the same way.
• And when asked about their anxieties over returning to offices, (47%) of women of color say they?worry about having to dress for work, compared with (31%) of men.

Takeaway: A message to leaders: 1). Account for physical office biases or risk a two-tier system that alienates WFH from those in the office and 2). in doing so, you may unknowingly unwind DEI progress because 3.) you ask employees to bring their 'whole selves to work, not understanding that many professionals--especially women, BIPOC and women of color feel more whole 'away' from the office.?Hybrid work can work if you understand first what’s working for your employees remotely.

3. Anti-Union Stances Can Affect Brand Sentiment: Morning Brew-Harris Poll

Across industries and job titles, many workers around the U.S. – a?Starbucks store, an?REI store in Manhattan, tech workers at?The New York Times?– have been coming together to fight for better working conditions. And they may have the public on their side according to our latest data in?partnership with Morning Brew.

• Seven in 10 (71%) Americans believe that more service-industry companies should have employee unions.
• That belief has the?potential to impact purchasing behavior, as (42%) reported being?less likely to shop?with a company that is trying to?stop its employees from unionizing, and (41%) said the same of a company with?a union on strike.??
• And those numbers are even higher among Gen Z.
• Beyond that, (29%) of Americans would be more likely to purchase from a brand with unionized employees, including (41%) of Millennials and (32%) of Gen Z.

Takeaway:?“We’re seeing an overall move in power, a shift in power from the C-suite to the E-suite, the employee suite,” according to Linda Ong, founder and CEO of Cultique. “People recognize that worker rights are important because everybody is reassessing the role of work in their lives anyway."

4. Pandemic Worsening Americans' Already Terrible Sleep: HealthDay-Harris Poll

Many Americans are bone-weary following two straight years of pandemic stress, and our latest data in partnership with HealthDay and?as covered by U.S. News?shows that sleeplessness is only part of the problem. Here’s what else we found:

• One-third of Americans?feel more tired now?than they did before March 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• But just (28%) say?they're getting less sleep than before the pandemic.
• About (60%) agree that they often?feel mentally tired?even when they haven't been physically active.
• A similar number (57%) say they can't sleep well because they have too much on their minds, while about half (49%) say they are often too anxious to sleep well.
• This weariness is probably driven by pandemic-related changes causing a?lack of separation between work and home life that can be fatiguing, according to Michelle Drerup, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program.

Takeaway:?"There's a gap there that basically says tiredness is not just driven by sleep," said Kathy Steinberg, vice president at The Harris Poll, with our poll pointing to deeper anxieties and stresses in the American psyche that are causing fatigue and harming sleep.

As a public service, our team has curated key insights to help leaders navigate COVID-19. Full survey results, tables, and weekly summaries can be accessed for free at?The Harris Poll COVID-19 Portal.?