For those who started a new job during the pandemic, some have yet to go into the office while some have yet to meet their colleagues in person.
Employers have had to find creative ways to keep their teams connected. Some companies say they plan to keep working remotely after the pandemic while others are keen to get back to the office or do a mixture of both.
It's a business that's all about challenge and adventure. And for Travel Company Earth's Edge, its approach to operating during the pandemic has been just that. For new recruits - one challenge was getting to know colleagues while working remotely.
Managing Director of Earth's Edge James McManus said they overcame that by meeting up in person when they could - outdoors - with expeditions like hiking and camping.
"Being an expedition company it's an environment that we're pretty comfortable in," he said. "The outdoors is a fantastic place to get to know someone and chat in an informal context."
New recruit Aislinn Whelan, who works as the Marketing and Wellbeing Manager at Earth's Edge, said it was a challenge, such as meeting colleagues through Zoom.
"It is a challenge to form those relationships that would be much easier to do in a real office."
She said that she is very comfortable in a hiking environment so meeting them outdoors made her more comfortable.
She said that the work-life balance that remote working brings gives her the flexibility to work around her own personal life.
She can work her own working hours. At 3pm she can go for a hike, a cycle, meet friends and family so she doesn't want to go back to the office. They've been developing working relationships through hiking trips and things like that, so she thinks it is working very well.
James McManus said that, long-term, they plan to be back running expeditions in 2022 and they are seeing a lot of forward bookings.
He said that they are planning to continue with remote working on a permanent basis and meet up in person once every two months. He said that it opens the door for people to work from wherever they want.
'One of the hardest things someone can do'
Ashlee Byrne took on her very first job in a pandemic.
"Starting a career in a pandemic, I assume, is one of the hardest things someone can do," she said.
But she said she wouldn't get rid of that experience for anything, she has learnt so much and has had to learn really fast. She said that the social aspect is something that they miss but the advantage is the flexibility of it - working from home.
As a new graduate, she said she would have pictured going into her first workplace full of people you'd have your canteen, might go out for a drink on Friday night after work, and have people around you all the time to ask questions.
Instead her office environment was very different in her family home.
"You could be working at the kitchen table while you're having your lunch, or you could be working in your sitting room. I do have a room that we use as an office and I've occupied that," she said.
She thinks she does get on very well with the people she works with but would have liked to get to know some people better.
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"I think I gelled with everyone really well. There were one or two people who were recent graduates and I did get to know them. It was fortunate that we did get on but it was really sad that we didn't get to see each other because I think we could have been really good friends and would have a good bit of craic in the office."
She said what she is looking forward to most is having that buzzy vibe of everyone in the office together and getting to know people more from other departments.
Her colleague who also started in the company in the past year said when she started it was during Covid and she got her work laptop delivered by the postman and she didn't know anyone on the team.
Sephora Bagreet said it was a struggle at the start but the team she works with are lovely and they have a daily meeting, so you get to catch up with people on it.
She said that the hardest thing she struggled with was that you can't have the banter with people you work with because they don't really know what you're like or you don't know what they're like.
She said that going back to the office now - even if there is a balance between working from home and working in the office - at least you'll get to know people and you'll get to know what's happening in the office.
'I suppose you adapt'
Setting up a whole company in a pandemic was also very challenging.
Niall Phelan, co-founder of the Naked Collective Drinks, said they were due to launch in April 2020.
He said hiring employees and getting to know them is really difficult.
"If you'd have said to me even two years ago that you were going to hire people 35 people around the world and never meet them most of them I'd have said you were crazy. But I suppose you adapt.
"I think the biggest thing to get over when you're talking to your team is missing the little bits of body language, and the things that you can tell when you're face to face and learning how to just ask those extra questions to make sure people are ok."
He said it's challenging but "when you're backed into a corner and you've no choice, you'll find ways through".
He said to try to build a culture and to try to get the team connected they've done things like 'pub quizzes' or coffee sessions where people just came online and just allowed people to talk about what is on their mind today - the things you'd normally talk about when you're at the water cooler.
He said that he doesn't think we'll ever have a full normal working environment again because he thinks the workplace has changed forever. But he said he thinks it's important to get the balance between coming into an office and working from home.
The company has never had the entire team working in their current office. But he said what he misses is the craic.
He said he is really looking forward to human interactions and the dynamic that creates, the bit of extra innovation. He said putting teams together in a room is what really makes the difference.
