Nearly four years following the COVID-19 outbreak that changed the outlook of remote and hybrid work schedules, employers might be enforcing return-to-office policies sooner rather than later.
An end-of-year study by Resume Builder showed that 90% of companies will return to office by the end of 2024.
“We’ve already seen this trend as accurate,” said Herb Dew, CEO of Human Technologies Inc. “During COVID, everyone went remote then, depending on the industry, employers were saying that maybe remote work could work in the long run.”
Over the last year, said Dew, companies are finding that there’s a downside to having a fully remote workforce.
“So, how do we return to the office while allowing employees to maintain freedom but don’t lose the collaboration aspect that comes with working in the office, the loss of intimacy of a team?” Dew proposed.
The issue of return-to-office policies continues to be contentious, according to Resume Builder. While some studies have found that employees feel more productive and effective in-office, many companies are continuing to receive pushback from employees who would prefer to work remotely, and some employers are regretting their push to return to the office too soon, the study noted.
In order to find out what companies’ plans are for returning to offices this year, ResumeBuilder.com surveyed 1,000 company decisionmakers in August.
Here are the key findings:
- Nine in 10 companies with office space will return to office by the end of 2024
- A majority of companies are currently tracking or will track employees to ensure in-person attendance
- 72% of companies said returning to the office has improved revenue
- 28% of employees said their company will threaten to fire employees who don’t comply with mandates
Many businesses gave up their physical office spaces during the pandemic, according to Resume Builder, but the vast majority plan to have them moving forward.
According to the study, 64% of respondents said their company currently has a physical workspace, 20% plan to by the end of 2024, 11% plan to in 2025 or later, and just 4% never plan to have a physical workspace.
When companies were asked if they currently have or plan to have office space by the end of 2024 about their current or future RTO plans, only 2% of respondents say their company never plans to require employees to work in-person. Fifty-one percent currently require some or all employees to work in-person, 39% plan to by the end of 2024, and 8% plan to by 2025 or later, according to the study.
Companies looking at these metrics are realizing that employees that work from home aren’t quite as efficient as they think they are compared to working in an office, said Dew.
“They (employers) are beginning to see a completely remote workforce lacks efficiency,” he added. “I’m seeing more hybrid schedules, but there are also employers that have 100% RTO policies already. But bringing people back 100% to the office when they have adjusted to working from home has increased turnover.”
Kamber Parker, founder of YoPro Know, an innovative consulting group focused on young professionals, said she has seen leaders who think RTO is the only way to “increase productivity,” yet most young professionals feel they are more productive when working from home and not in the office.
“Keep in mind that most GenZ young professionals have never known a workplace that was 100% in office due to the pandemic,” she added. “So, expect there to be some pushback and turnover if something they have always known in the workforce is suddenly gone. I don’t think many senior leaders think of it from that perspective.”
Here are the pros and cons of return-to-office policies
There have been proven pros and cons regarding employers enforcing return-to-office policies—some may say before employees are “ready.”
An absolute con, according to Dew, is that some companies aren’t communicating the why and how to return to the office or giving employees enough time to get squared away.
“This will cause disruptions in workers’ lives,” he said. “Round table discussions need to happen on how we can make this happen successfully and give workers enough warning. Hear concerns and have people feel heard. Companies I have seen be successful at this are starting with integrating hybrid schedules first. I think employees, for the most part, miss synergy and working with employees through personal interactions, so I think people get hybrid schedules. I think people going from 100% remote to 100% RTO is a hard sell.”
As leaders, if they choose a 100% RTO policy, Parker said they recommend being clear in the job descriptions and during interviews.
“Being honest is a great way to weed out candidates who will leave during the onboarding process, and it will also show you’re not being dishonest during the recruiting period, which shows character,” she added. “Additionally, if returning to the office is inevitable, what other ways can you offer flexibility? Is there an option to offer additional benefits that you are not currently offering? Is there any wiggle room with flex time?
“For any leaders in the manufacturing space or other fields where remote work was never possible, I continue to share this insight: what ways can you be flexible to engage talent?”
What return to office means for performance
According to the study, company leaders predict that returning to office in 2024 will improve the company in a variety of ways. Eighty-one percent said it will improve revenue, 81% also believe it will improve company culture, and 83% said it will improve worker productivity.
Among respondents whose companies have already returned to office, 31% said they started requiring workers to come back in 2021, 41% in 2022, and 27% in 2023. Many respondents in this group said they have seen an improvement in revenue, productivity, worker retention, and more, according to study findings.
To encourage employees to return to in-person work, 72% of business leaders said the company will offer commuter benefits, 57% will offer childcare benefits, and 64% will provide catered meals. Additionally, 28% said their company will threaten to fire employees who don’t comply with RTO policy, according to the study.
“Companies can threaten to fire employees over RTO policy, but they should keep in mind that this is still a very strong candidate market in many industries,” said Resume Builder Chief Career Advisor Stacie Haller. “Companies who insist on RTO when employees are resistant may lose workers and struggle to hire talent from a smaller candidate pool.”
A common study that occurs every 10 to 15 years implies a rule of thumb — that a third of a companies’ workforce is in the higher echelon of performance, said Dew.
“The fact of the matter is that some people work well remotely, while others don’t,” he said. “That top third can work anywhere and be successful while creating their own structure. They can work 100% remotely and be highly effective. But, then there’s another third of the workforce that is more successful with structure, and then the bottom third is less successful and they need tight constraints to function. Employers are struggling to figure this out, and RTO policies hurt the top third of the workforce, because the other two thirds work better with structure.”
Consequently, technology hasn’t caught up with connectivity between remote work and being in the office, said Dew.
“Can you imagine being laid off via email versus being told in person?” he said. “That is proof of lack of personal interactions and the detriment of it. Employers are working through how to make all this work. I think a hybrid approach is where we land, depending on the industry, and this could be permanent, moving forward. But, increased face time, even if it needs to be scheduled, is still important, even if just once a month.”
As of 2023, Parker said research with thousands of young professionals (“YoPros”) showed that 68% prefer hybrid work environments.
“In our ongoing surveys, we are not seeing this number change, and have conversations daily with young talent who actively search for companies who offer a flexible work schedule,” she said. “That being said, you will find most young professionals don’t want to work from home 100% of the time. The key here is they want some flexibility, which to them, might mean just one day at home, or even the option to leave work early on Fridays. You won’t know unless you ask your teams.”
What other workforce trends are on the horizon?
According to Dew, there are other workforce trends that may be part of the “norm” over the next couple of years.
“A four-day work week is another topic of conversation in the next five years that we might see being more mainstream in the U.S. like it is in Europe,” he said. “The loss of a day hasn’t really affected industries who currently enforce four-day work weeks, but rather companies have seen an increase in employee productivity.”
In order to get the best people and retain the most employees, employers must be more flexible and get more creative with benefits as well, said Dew, such as the increase of paid time off policies — some employers have already tested the waters with unlimited PTO.
“Some companies have come out with minimum PTO polices even, because those who offer unlimited PTO have guilt over taking too much, so they end up not taking enough,” he added.
The new generation of employees joining the workforce is set on having a proper work-life balance, said Dew. If employers only offer the “old school way of doing things” by offering just two weeks off, that will put them at the back of the line, he added.
“It is important to note that I have also spoken to countless members of other generations (experienced professionals: 40+) who also want flexible work environments,” Parker said, “this is not something we are seeing in just young professionals, but I do think the younger workforce is getting a lot of negative press in the media claiming they are the ones ‘not willing to go back to the office.’ It impacts all generations, let’s be clear.”
All these things are interconnected, said Dew.
“Companies that start innovating around all these things will have employees say that’s who they want to work for. Being creative and being employee-centric, moving away from traditional benefits is key. Companies are taking more risks and trying new things, and they are succeeding while getting other employers to see these points in a different way. If you’re a company that’s not being innovative, you’re going to have high turnover. You’ll always have people that can go somewhere else.”
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