For those returning to work, some unique problems arose in counterproductive employee behavior. Forbes reported that the average employee saved $$4,000$ working from home, so they may consider in$-$person work costly by comparison. Many companies are noticing office gossip at a much higher intensity than before the pandemic. The Society for Human Resource Management $($SHRM$)$ reports that gossip moves around the office more quickly after a $"12-$month drought" of office interaction.

Employees may have become accustomed to uninterrupted work time as well. Pew Research Center reports that $68\%$ of employees surveyed agree they were more motivated, had more time, and met deadlines better when working from home. The transition to the office, therefore, brought challenges to workers performing their jobs side$-$by$-$side with others. One company executive reported in Forbes that in his company, conflict management needs tripled in the first weeks of $2021$ versus the years $2019$ and $2020$ combined.

Though employees were not exposed to the shared workplace during the pandemic, Zoom meetings invited them into each other's homes, so to speak. This led to invasive questions about others' personal lives, or "over sharing" about one's own. For example, a common issue was the open discussion of coworkers' weight gain while working from home. Some workers also became desensitized to aggressive language over Zoom meetings with the ability to evade consequences that might be faced in person.

Experts suggest that managers consider the value of employee skills that may not have been as important pre$-$pandemic, such as adaptability and flexibility. Employees faced high anxiety with childcare, health concerns, and job security, so the ability to accomplish tasks, innovate, and maintain a positive attitude became highly valued. Companies might also want to reevaluate training needs for skills that may have lapsed during the period of remote work. Primary targets are interpersonal, communication, and conflict management skills.

Employees may think that their company owes them money when they come into the office, given their savings when working from home. They may try to compensate themselves through a form of

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