The Malaysian Insight

NOT all employees are excited with the government’s decision to lift the work from home order, requiring them to go back to offices in conditional movement control order (CMCO) areas from April 1.

A number of people told The Malaysian Insight that the number of Covid-19 cases still remained in four digits, and there had not been a sharp drop in cases since the MCO 2.0 was implemented in mid-January.

They added that they were still concerned about exposure to the coronavirus, which continued to spread in the community.

On Wednesday, the National Security Council decided to scrap the standard operating procedure (SOP) allowing only 30% of employees in office in CMCO areas, effective April 1.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this decision was taken on the recommendation of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) to allow management and supervisory groups of companies to operate at maximum levels.

“It is honestly a bad idea to allow offices back to 100% capacity,” said Joshua Yip, 23, who works in a Fintech company.

He said the government must be careful in allowing the workforce to return in this fashion because the virus was still active.

“Yes, the 1,000 mark is lower compared to the number of cases we had earlier this year but if we do not take care of things, cases will rise again and we will be back to square one,” he said.

He said the work from home (WFH) concept had been working well and there was no need to rush people back into the offices.

Maryam Mansoor, 24, who works in a law firm, was also sceptical about the idea.

“It is very concerning because the number of cases is still very high. Allowing people back into the office will only increase that number,” she said.

She added that the number of cases will only grow if people fail to follow the SOP strictly.

“For me, allowing 100% capacity to the office will also increase traffic while taking public transport. 

“I have already stopped taking the LRT since the implementation of CMCO as it was impossible to practise social distancing.

“Imagine how more crowded it will be when everyone is back to office, it will be a chaos,” she said.

Raeden Wong, 31, who works in the veterinary industry, said the relaxation of restrictions would work in big companies but not for smaller firms.

“Most of my work only involves me working on my computer, so I hope that my company does not call me to come to office on a daily basis, as I do have elderly family members at home.

“Then again, if they do call me to come to work, I have no choice but to go because we all have been affected financially by the pandemic,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kishan Varma, 25, who works in the property industry, said that it would be ideal if bosses have a mixture of working from home and the office, instead of just asking everyone to come to the office.

“I do think this move by the government will benefit a lot of people as well since not every industry is able to work from home,” he said. – April 3, 2021.