Travelers Indefinitely Delays Return To Office For Thousands In Hartford Headquarters

The insurance giant Travelers Cos., which employs thousands in downtown Hartford, is delaying indefinitely its broad-based return to the office as concerns grow about the COVID-19 omicron variant and a recent spike in infection rates.

The property-casualty insurer had planned a return to downtown offices beginning Jan. 18.

In an internal letter Monday obtained by the Courant and confirmed by the insurer, Travelers chairman and chief executive Alan Schnitzer told employees that ‘we will need to hit the pause once again on our return-to-office plans.’

‘Your next question is no doubt, ‘Until when?’ ‘ Schnitzer wrote. ‘I wish I could tell you. Until we have a better sense of what the course of the pandemic is going to take, we don’t have clarity to answer that question.’

Within the broader business community in Greater Hartford, leaders said Tuesday they weren’t surprised that Travelers had again put off a return to the office.