This afternoon, I was reading my Wall Street Journal from a few days ago (I still take the old-fashioned print edition, and I am always behind), and I noticed more than one article that, taken together, got me to thinking some very uncomfortable thoughts.

I have read more than one article describing the “new office,” brought about by the Wuhan Coronavirus. Most big offices in large cities were shut down by government decree in March and April, resulting in thousands of workers being laid off, furloughed, or directed to work from home to avoid contagion. With some offices now allowed to reopen, companies are having to totally rethink their office layouts, so their employees can be “kept safe.” The bolded chapter heading is “Distancing and Cleanliness.” In the office of the very near future (like tomorrow), “Among the first priorities is figuring out how to maintain social distancing in an office.” Software applications will now govern where and how employees interact. Meetings will be smaller and less frequent, and employee desks will be further apart [thus cutting down on employee interaction]; “density sensors” may prevent too many employees in any one room at a time; all surfaces will be obsessively cleaned all day every day.

In the new office building, elevators will not be allowed to hold more than two people, and all the buttons will either be gone or changed to some kind of “no-touch” technology. Many will still work from home, and their colleagues in the office will hold Zoom meetings when they need to be in a group discussion. A researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces at UC Berkeley advises “bringing employees together virtually now to share ideas on how to re-establish social bonds while maintaining social distancing.” [italics mine]