NEW year, renewed optimism. This was the perspective of most businesses toward the end of the 2021, with most expressing confidence that they could start embracing hybrid work arrangements for their workforces come 2022. The rosy outlook came at the heels of mass inoculation programs initiated by the government. In a Collier's report released in November last year, several employers stated that they were expecting a big chunk of their workforces to return to the office this year while others said they were set to adopt a mix of remote and on-site work setups.

But as things turned out, the start of 2022 in the Philippines was marred by news of a Covid-19 surge due to the Omicron variant, with the country logging record-high new cases and bringing the total number of infections close to 3 million. This has sparked worries among economists, who made estimates of losses businesses may incur as a result of the escalation of the alert level in Metro Manila.