Safeter founder on how a company's footprint is going to 'change pretty dramatically' due to COVID-19

Amar Goel, Safeter Founder, joins The Final Round to discuss how the Safeter app is helping employers reopen offices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Video Transcript

AMAR GOEL: Yeah, look. Our goal is really to help make reopening and staying open safe and easy for employers and employees around the world. And you know, we're-- really, a lot of times, this task is kind of left to HR to manage. And so we're trying to help them help their employees, like, show up to work if they need to. Some people need to for collaboration or social interaction, mental health. Or maybe they're [INAUDIBLE] and they need to be on location.

So we provide a mobile app for employees. You can see it there. And really, some of the main things we do are, like, helping you schedule employees back. Many people want to have social distancing now. So 500 people in my office, but now I can only fit 100. So how do I make sure I understand which hundred those are?

Doing a symptom check or a health check to make sure people, you know, are not unhealthy before they come to work, reporting testing results, contact tracing, helping with testing. Those are the kinds of things that we're helping employers and employees do, hopefully easily and safely.

- Hey, Amar. Nice, calm question for you here. What is employers' attitude toward liability at this point? You know, the Republicans wanted a liability waiver as part of the next stimulus bill. Now it looks like there might not be a new stimulus bill. So there is no federal liability waiver. Are businesses comfortable having employees come back and customers come back without something like that?

AMAR GOEL: Yeah, so I think we've really seen the-- kind of the range, the gamut, of kind of reactions. I mean, there are-- I think, a few months ago, there was a lot-- a number of employers kind of saying, hey, we're not going to do anything, and we're not going to-- you know, we're very concerned from a liability standpoint.

I think the sense we get now-- and maybe we're-- get a biased reaction 'cause we're getting people, you know, that we're connecting with and reaching out to us. But you know, I think a lot of employers are saying, hey, it's an optional thing right now for employees to come back, or soon. We're not forcing, you know, people to come back.

And I think, from a OSHA and EEOC standpoint, as long as you treat everyone the same, you know, you-- you're in pretty good standing as an employer. That being said, I mean, I think, you know, this is somewhat untested ground, right? I mean, we don't have a lot of case history of pandemics and then what happens. And you have seen lawsuits here and there happen as maybe people get sick in the workplace [INAUDIBLE] a few lawsuits, et cetera. Casinos.

- Amar, what's the cost of all this? I mean, how expensive is it for companies to try and bring all of their employees back?

AMAR GOEL: Yeah. So I mean-- well, I think there's a lot of different things out there that companies can do, right? And some of them are refitting plexiglass, you know, getting [INAUDIBLE]. There are software tools like ours. We have a totally free plan for companies of any size, and we have a program-- a professionals plan that we charge $5 an employee a month who's active and actually returning to the office.

But there are-- you know, there are costs involved. I think the other big thing that we're starting to see is, you know, I think work going forward is going to change. I think a lot of people are going to be going into the office fewer days per week. You know, they may be-- they used to go five days a week. Now, they may be going two or three days a week.

I was just talking to somebody at a real estate company, and they, it's sort unlimited space. So they wanted everybody back in the office. So they actually just took another office floor because, you know, that way, everyone could be socially distance. But I think most employers are not yet quite going and getting extra office space. So they're saying, how do I make do with the space that I have?

ANDY SERWER: Hey, Amar, what is your company going to be doing five years from now?

AMAR GOEL: Yeah, it's a really-- really good question. So I think it goes back to, a little bit, one of the things I was mentioning earlier, that we think the way that people are going to the office is changing. You know, we think that huge swaths of the-- of kind of the workforce are not going to be going to the office five days a week anymore.

And we think that the footprint that companies have is going to probably change pretty dramatically. So you know, they may have a lot more conference room space 'cause people say, when I'm going to go to the office now, I really want to make sure that I'm just meeting with people. I go to the office Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and I want to do a lot more meetings, 'cause Monday and Friday, I'm at home, or whatever it is.

And so we think that companies are going to need to schedule employees differently. Just an example-- let's say, Andy, I work closely with you. I would like to know, hey, when Andy's going to go into the office so that maybe I'll come into the office as well.

ANDY SERWER: Or not.

AMAR GOEL: [INAUDIBLE]

ANDY SERWER: Again, or not.

AMAR GOEL: [INAUDIBLE] absolutely, you know?

ANDY SERWER: Right.

AMAR GOEL: Yeah, so the idea is that, how do you create a collaborative environment--

ANDY SERWER: Yeah.

AMAR GOEL: --when everyone's all over the place, right? You used to have everybody coming into the office all the time, and so it was easier. Now, you've got, you know, a very disparate workforce. And yet, people do want to interact. I mean, another, like-- we don't handle this in our software yet, but we've heard lots of examples of, people want to get together, so they're meeting up on their own time, on the weekends, or after work [INAUDIBLE] or just in a park, because people want social interaction with their colleagues.

- Hey, Amar, from your clients, who are the companies that are trying to get their employees back in the shortest amount of time? 'Cause we've heard, from a lot of the tech giants, they're not even planning to bring people back until some time next summer. Is it some of the banks that you're working with? Is it companies in the financial sector that's a little bit more-- I guess, have tried to speed up their timeline for this?

AMAR GOEL: Yeah. I mean, I think it's-- so one thing is, I think even when you have tech companies saying, hey, we're not reopening till next summer, you know, many of them actually have people coming onto campus. And again, it's certain things that need to be done in person-- certain people in IT, or facilities, or-- so there are people showing up on campus.

We have a webinar with Uber that we just put up on our website a few days ago. While they have not-- you know, they've said, hey, people don't have to come back till next summer. They have actually reopened, you know, 600 different locations, and people can come into the office. And people are coming into the office.

So I think that there's a lot of folks who have-- a lot of companies that have a few folks coming in. And they're hoping to ramp it. I think if you look-- of course, look at manufacturing, retail, some of those folks are having-- you know, need a lot more people to be in because you can't run a store if you don't have anyone in there or if you have 10% of your normal workforce. But you know, certainly all the front-line folks-- grocery stores, hospitals, et cetera.

But I think in the office [INAUDIBLE], I would say it's 5% to 20%-- 5% to 10%, 5% to 15% of people are back now. But I do-- you know, I agree with the premise of, I think, your question, which is, hey, when are we going to be-- when are you going to have 70% of people back? You know, I think that would be some time-- in the US, by the way.

If you look outside-- I have a friend who runs a health care startup. He said he was on a call with, I think, AstraZeneca in Copenhagen. And he's like, four people were in a conference room having the meeting in Copenhagen, you know, from AstraZeneca. So you know, I think when you go to parts of Europe, Australia, Singapore, many more people are actually back in the office and, like, kind of normal.

- Right. And that changes based on region and where you are. Even within the US, that's true. All right. Amar Goel, founder of Safeter. Great to have your perspective. Thanks for joining the show today.

AMAR GOEL: Thank you. Thank you.