As organizations prepare to have their employees return to corporate offices and headquarters, go fully remote, or some hybrid of the two, childcare is at the forefront of employees’ concerns.

A new report by sister brands Women in Retail Leadership Circle (WIRLC) and Women Leading Travel & Hospitality looks at employer trends in back-to-office strategies. We asked executives from leading brands across both the retail and travel and hospitality industries how they’re navigating the many challenges and questions that come with defining a new way to work.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, parents were expected to take on the burden of childcare as school districts closed, shifted to a hybrid schedule, or required students to be learning fully remotely. Parents, already working from home for the very same reasons that students weren’t in classrooms, were forced to pick up the slack when it came to their children’s education.

Working parents were splitting time between their day jobs and educating their children. However, this type of system was fraught with challenges, and employers were often getting less than their employee’s full attention during the workday.

Working From Home? Get Childcare

Among the 229 executives surveyed, 70 percent said they would require their employees who are working either part time or full time from home to have childcare arrangements in place.

For working parents pre-pandemic, having childcare arrangements in place was an expectation. Employees weren’t expecting that their employer would be OK with them splitting their time during the workday between childcare and their job. The pandemic, and children being forced to be schooled from home, temporarily changed that mindset.

Back-to-Office Concerns Include Childcare

Additionally, 42 percent of employer decision makers said arranging for childcare was a concern for employees planning their return to working in the office. The other concerns employers are hearing from employees include commuting via public transportation, non-compliance on COVID-19 guidelines by co-workers, and not seeing a demonstrable increase in productivity by being in the office.

For more data and analysis from the Back-to-Office Report, which can be used to inform your own company’s strategy, download the full resource here.