Cases of the Omicron variant are on the decline in U.S. and worldwide—but a different version of Omicron is now gaining traction. This so-called stealth variant, officially known as BA.2, is armed with even higher transmission potential, and possibly a greater ability to evade the immune response, than the original Omicron, leading experts to fear it could further prolong the COVID-19 pandemic.
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WHO says new omicron BA.2 subvariant will rise globally, but scientists don’t know if it can reinfect people.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/08/who-says-omicron-bapoint2-subvariant-will-rise-globally.html
There are signs that the coronavirus omicron variant wave might be dipping, but that doesn’t mean COVID-19 is going away anytime soon with these fast-spreading new subvariants.
Some countries haven't seen a peak yet, either, according to Reuters.
What she said: “The expected trajectory is that it will become the new dominant variant, as once it crosses past a certain threshold it becomes dominant.
“It moves from person to person much faster,” she explained. “If you’re with someone in a room who has the virus, you will get it.
@depressed same situation here. I am the only one on my team in my office. Half the people I work with aren't even in my time zone. So now we'll get to stare at each other on WebEx in an office instead of at home? How does that create collaboration?
I guess we'll find out Thursday or Friday what happens with RTO. Michel was coy about it and dr-g it out to nearly the last sentence of LTL inflicting an hour of Barbara Streisand on us.
Met management tries to appear united, but under the covers there are factions.
One faction, typified by the investments guy that made an analogy to working as football practice, definitely wants everyone back. They think they can call the shots, and that particular team might be concentrated in one area in NJ. Maybe he can call the shots; maybe coach's team will suffer high attrition.
Other factions are thinking about employee retention and whether the job is getting done. They are already used to remote employees -- remote and in a different time zone in Noida, India. So, they think, "what's the difference?"
I'm hoping to get an email that says whether I come in or not is voluntary. Maybe I'm delusional.
For a company that keeps talking about the culture... It appears they are completely ignoring the new culture of America. They are in their ivory towers and they don't see it. They have become comfortable with being fat and complacent. They are holding on to an old model of brick and mortar while being completely oblivious to what is happening around them in the business world. The problem is they continually compare themselves to the same companies with the same mindsets. That is their error. People are sick of they old way. So will MetLife stand up and truly revolutionize the model, or just go back to the old ways that will most assuredly collapse under their antiquated management style. The deep pockets will sustain them for some time, but if they don't adapt to a decentralized asynchronous dynamic standard, they will just be consumed. It does not matter where one does their work, what matters are results. Save your company managers, and demand change now. You have had two years of a working test. Hopefully you have already adapted and are still adapting. Speak up now. Never forget you had a chance to make this company a true leader in the industry, not a company that looks to outside research firms to tell them who they are. This truly is Metlife's defining moments.
They should put a poll out like Allstate did. Soon after Allstate went fully remote.
None that I speak to want to go back.
@"still wont see anyone I work with".
You nailed it.
I'm in the same situation. MetLife is offshoring things as fast as they can. I have very few colleagues in the office. What's the point of coming in? It's depressing.
Forget about COVID, I'm more pi---d that RTO has no actual benefit.
It costs me more money on gas and car related expenses, it wastes about 8-10 hours a week of my time commuting, and it forces me to sit in an office where I still wont see anyone I work with, so I'll still be on conference calls all day.