A Mathematical Model for In-Person Office Assignment During COVID-19

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Published: Apr 9, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37266/ISER.2021v9i1.pp68-74
Keywords:
COVID-19; workforce planning; mathematical modeling

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Daryl Santos
Binghamton University

Abstract

The global pandemic that is COVID-19 has altered our world as we know it. Educational systems have been seriously affected, businesses – whether “essential” or not – have been severely stressed, how people socialize has, perhaps forever, been changed, and telecommuting is the new norm. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a situation wherein a company was having difficulty in scheduling their in-person office staffing in a move to allow rotational schedules for their employees to decongest their office when an entirely telecommuting operation was not possible. Due to the different types of employees, their various work-related constraints, and the need to minimize the number of bodies in the office while addressing minimum coverage necessary to perform the company’s daily activities, a quick solution to their scheduling/assignment needs was not obvious or trivially obtained. As such, mathematical models, specifically, integer programming assignment models, were developed and ultimately solved using the Python/Gurobi solver to address their scheduling needs. This paper will describe the constraints faced by the company and the models developed to solve their tricky assignment problem.

Article Details

How to Cite
Santos, D. (2021). A Mathematical Model for In-Person Office Assignment During COVID-19. Industrial and Systems Engineering Review, 9(1), 68-74. https://doi.org/10.37266/ISER.2021v9i1.pp68-74
Issue
Vol. 9 No. 1 (2021): Industrial and Systems Engineering Review - COVID-19 Special Issue
Section
Articles

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