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Chattanooga’s major office employers in no rush to bring workers back to the office

A majority of Unum's employees are still working from home and the insurance giant's parking lot on campus remains mostly empty during the week. Staff photo by Robin Rudd.
A majority of Unum's employees are still working from home and the insurance giant's parking lot on campus remains mostly empty during the week. Staff photo by Robin Rudd. A majority of Unum's employees are still working from home and the insurance giant's parking lot on campus remains mostly empty during the week. Staff photo by Robin Rudd.

By Dave Flessner 6 min read

Four months after shifting their staffs to work at home, many of Chattanooga’s biggest employers are still in no hurry to bring most of their workers back to the office.

The majority of those who moved their work sites from downtown offices to their own homes will keep working at home through the balance of the summer at such corporate giants as Unum, the Tennessee Valley Authority and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

Chattanooga‘s City Hall reopened to the public last week for the first time in 16 weeks after major attractions like the Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative Discovery Museum reopened in June following three months of being shut down to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. But while more businesses and attractions are opening to customers and allowing in-person visits, telework continues to be the norm, at least for some staff, at most of the city’s major corporate offices.

Potentially, thousands of former downtown jobs may never come back as businesses are finding they can get their work done without congregating in downtown offices amid the pandemic.

Atop Cameron Hill overlooking downtown Chattanooga, only a few hundred of the more than 5,000 employees of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee are coming to the corporate campus to do their jobs. BlueCross Vice President Scott Wilson said nearly 96% of the staff of Tennessee‘s biggest health insurer are working from home “and our member and provider service levels remain very high” so the insurer sees no immediate need to change its approach.