Efi Chalikopoulou for Vox

The new normal requires more work, patience, and good humor — from both new hires and the companies bringing them on.

Good news! You’ve landed a new job at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has put millions of people out of work.

The bad news: You’ve landed a new job during a pandemic that’s forced millions of people to work remotely — including you. You’re not going to meet your co-workers for … quite some time.

That’s the scenario many Americans have found themselves in for the past six months, with no clear end in sight. Major companies such as Google and Facebook told employees they should not expect to return to their offices until July 2021 at the earliest; other employers haven’t made any projections at all.

Work from home is the new normal, which means new hires