St. Anthony: Not every Twin Cities business is going back to the office as pandemic eases.

Not every employer is contemplating a return to the office this spring.

Caitlin Rogers, who started Next Day Animations a decade ago, opened an office near Lake Street and Lyndale Av. S. when it reached 12 employees in 2019.

Rogers let the lease expire in September 2020 in the midst of the pandemic — and the team is staying virtual.

The coronavirus pandemic, which shut down a lot of events and in-person training, played to Next Day's business of instructional, entertaining online animations for manufacturers, schools and nonprofits.

Next Day — which also got a federal $123,000 Payroll Protection Program forgivable loan during the uncertain spring of 2020 — has nearly doubled revenue, approaching $2 million this year. It now has 25 employees.

"The team is thriving in our purpose-driven work," said Rogers, 37, who said she runs a consensus-based workplace and calls herself "chief storyteller" rather than chief executive.

"And we've been talking about how work has probably been a protective factor for many of us in getting through the pandemic," she said. "We've taken on a large number of COVID-related explainer projects for clients."

Pippi Kessler, an industrial psychologist who works with Next Day, told Rogers the firm is something of an outlier at a time when companies are returning employees two or three days a week as COVID-19 cases decline.

But some firms, particularly tech-oriented enterprises, have decided to either go with full-time telecommuting or use a cooperative work space.

JJ Parker, chief executive of 50-employee Tightrope Media Systems, a tech company that has permitted remote work for years, said the firm gave up its 8,000-square-foot downtown Minneapolis office space last year.

"We label ourselves as a 'remote first' company, giving our team the freedom to work from anywhere they want," Parker said in an e-mail exchange. "Today, we keep a small lease in a co-working space for occasional in-person meetings and drop-in space for our team when they need to get out of the house."

Qumu, a Minneapolis video-as-a-service company, also closed its Minneapolis office in fall 2020 in favor of going fully remote.

While many companies big and small are working on hybrid work arrangements, several large employers including the city of Minneapolis, Ameriprise Financial and Wells Fargo have called workers back to their offices at least a few days a week.

Companies are returning "patiently and cautiously" to the office, according to a February article for the Society for Human Resources Management that cited a Bloomberg Morning Consult poll in January that showed 55% of remote workers said they might quit if they didn't feel safe and comfortable returning to the office. That was up from 45% a week earlier. Several executives said they are moving slowly and communicating rapidly with workers about the conditions and advantages of hybrid returns.

Rogers said she doesn't miss the $2,000 monthly office rent, and her colleagues don't miss the daily commutes to the former Next Day Animations Lyn-Lake office. Instead, working from home allows a more flexible work schedule.

Next Day also held on to a valued senior producer who moved to Duluth thanks to remote work, she said.

Drawbacks include losing those in-office collaborations that can build business success.

"I miss sitting down with other folks and being able to have impromptu group discussions and the camaraderie of the office experience, including walking to lunch together," Rogers said. "It's hard on us extroverts who thrive in a social environment or with the structure and accountability that having co-workers next to you provides."

Also, it can be hard to build a wall between work and home, for example when a child who comes into the room asking for a snack when you are on an important call, she said.

The pandemic caused some financial pain as well for Next Day.

The company cut hours 15% at the outset of the pandemic to help "weather the unknown," Rogers said. The company ended up increasing pay as business rebounded, and maintained a 35-hour workweek for full-time employees.

Productivity has increased as a result, she said. Next Day also will subsidize co-working space for those who need to work outside the home.