When your new dog eats your ability to go back to work

Work-life balance perks have long been a staple for employers aiming to attract and keep good workers, and it’s becoming clear that as the pandemic turns a corner employers will need to throw workers another bone if they want to avoid the risk of turnover: don’t forget about Fido.

In a piece documenting the anticipated separation anxiety between pandemic pooches and their owners who used the stay-at-home mandates to adopt their furry best friends, Time magazine provided some insight employers may want to pay attention to. 

Specifically, of 400 dog owners surveyed by the pet-product company Honest Paws, 67% said they would consider looking for a different job if their company no longer offered remote work and 78% said they would stay if they could bring their pets to work.

As reported by Time, a separate Banfield Pet Hospital survey of 1,500 pet owners found that nearly half of workers ages 18 to 24 and a third of workers ages 25 to 40 said they would rather quit their jobs than be forced to leave their pets at home alone full time.