The new office return date for some big companies? Try 2022

January is shaping up as the new September for many major U.S. companies to summon workers back to long-deserted offices as the COVID-19 Delta variant trips up employers eager to normalize their operations.

Among them is automaker Ford, which on Wednesday announced that some workers will continue to work remotely at least until January 2022. Ford said it will explore hybrid arrangements — including some in-office work — in the new year, depending on the state of the virus.  "While we continue to prepare our non-site-dependent team members to transition to a hybrid work model, the state of the COVID-19 virus remains very fluid and therefore we are adjusting the start of our hybrid work arrangement to no earlier than January 2022," Ford said in a statement to CBS News. "In the interim, we will continue monitoring the virus and as conditions improve, explore opportunities for team members to return on-site for collaboration and teamwork."