It was the first workday of 2022. Many people had hoped to be heading into work, some for the first time in nearly two years. Brooks Brothers had sent out a promotional email about how to “look great at the office”. But workers across the country remained home, with little idea when they might see their offices again.

With Covid case counts soaring, fuelled by the highly contagious omicron variant, businesses are once again weighing when to reopen, and what steps they need to take to do so safely.

In recent days, Jefferies, Goldman Sachs, Chevron and many more employers have delayed or changed their January return-to-office plans. Starbucks, Delta Air Lines and BlackRock have amended their Covid safety protocols, responding to shifting guidance from public health authorities.

At Jefferies, the investment bank, a memo to the staff on Monday morning from Rich Handler, the chief executive, and Brian Friedman, the president, announced a new plan: “Realistically, we do not foresee us all having a safe opportunity to be together in our offices until at least Monday, January 31st.”

The executives added a dose of optimism: “While nobody knows for sure, we believe (and fervently hope)

this could be the last truly challenging period of this pandemic.”

The memo reflected a view, shared by some business leaders, that the spread of omicron — which is more infectious, but also more mild, especially for the vaccinated — could usher in the endemic phase of the pandemic, and with it a wave of office reopenings that might actually be executed.