CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — While essential employees kept showing up to work, thousands of people worked from home. Now, many of them are heading back into the office as the state continued to ease restrictions following the month-long stay-at-home order.
Managing Broker with Realty One Group, Derek Kliner, said he and other brokers have been anxiously waiting to return to their office.
"We’ve all be itching to get back to work, do our job and make a living," Kliner said.
Kliner's office is in Castle Rock, which is one of many cities in the state allowing no more than 50% of its workforce to return to the office, a measure of the state's "safer at home" order set forth by Governor Jared Polis.
"This office was closed for approximately five weeks and then we just recently, in the last couple of days, started coming back in and spending time in the office," Kliner said.
Douglas and Weld counties both opened for business Monday, other counties like Denver still have stay-at -home orders in place until the end of the week.
President of the Northwest Douglas County Chamber & EDC, Amy Sherman, said office spaces will look different than before and will have to follow guidelines that prioritize employee health.
"For them to put up signage on what people can do, when they come in the office regarding masks and social distancing. There’s always an employee that’s supposed to be deputized as the COVID kind of manager to make sure that employees are following the rules," Sherman said.
For Kliner, the new rules will come with new ways of adapting their business, but it is a worthy sacrifice in order to regain a sense of normalcy in trying times.
"Getting back here in the office is step one, getting out there and selling houses is step two."