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After the pandemic upended traditional work arrangements, flexibility in the workplace became the norm. Employees welcomed the remote and hybrid work models and the benefits they afforded them, including enhanced autonomy, time management, and work-life balance.
But the workplace is rarely stagnant, and several factors indicate further change may be more likely.
Our 2025 Talent Trends report reveals that 41% of U.S. professionals are working in the office more compared to a year ago. Of those, a third say their increased in-office presence is due to their company’s policies becoming stricter. We’ve also seen several high-profile multinational companies participating in this shift.
As more businesses reign in remote work, the question becomes: how will return-to-office mandates affect employees and, by extension, business outcomes? Keep reading to learn more about evolving sentiments on return-to-office policies, their potential impacts, and whether enforcing them is the right move for your organization.
Want to learn more about workplace flexibility and other trends shaping the future of work? Download our 2025 Talent Trends report for the insights.
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Our recent survey sheds light on how thousands of U.S. employees and employers feel about flexible work arrangements. For example, while over a third of employees feel more productive working from home, only 17% of employers agree.
In fact, employers' views of flexible work are souring, maybe more so than ever since the start of the pandemic. They cite the following reasons for advocating for more in-person work:
On the opposite end, employees are increasingly in support of hybrid and remote work, reporting it has a positive impact on the following:
By 2030, the World Economic Forum estimates that remote digital jobs will grow by 25%. An important distinction: these roles can be performed remotely. Whether employers will offer this flexibility remains unknown.
Ultimately, the question of whether workplace flexibility is here to stay depends on whether organizations will take their own unique circumstances into account. Rather than simply following the crowd, the most successful work policies will come from a strategic, people-driven approach (more on this later).
For professionals, the importance of flexibility in the workplace cannot be overstated. Additional data suggests that dismissing workers’ preferences could lead to negative results, including:
Reduced employee engagement: Requesting employees to be physically present at work may not translate into more meaningful interactions or output. Reinforcing this, a quarter of professionals say flexible work arrangements are most important to their job satisfaction. For these employees, the lack of such work options opens the door for disengagement.
Increased turnover: Other employees may walk out the door altogether. 56% of employees said they were more likely to look for a new job if required to come to the office more.
Less access to top talent: But what about professionals you want to attract? Nearly half (48%) say flexibility is one of the most important factors when deciding whether to accept or apply for a role.
As hybrid and remote work models are major draws, organizations that offer flexible work options will have better luck engaging qualified talent, which remains employers’ biggest recruitment challenge, according to our survey.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, there are steps employers should take to develop a work arrangement that works best for their organization. When thinking about the work model you should implement, consider the following:
Before you introduce a new work arrangement, be sure you take your employees’ preferences into account by welcoming their feedback on an individual, collective, or anonymous basis. Giving your staff a voice will go a long way towards making them feel heard and valued.
In some cases, in-person work is inevitable. In others, the answer may not be so straightforward. This is why it’s important to strike a balance between employee and business priorities. Instead of creating a blanket approach that forces employees to get on board, providing choices could lead to a happier, more engaged workforce.
If in-person work is mandatory, can you offer your staff something in return? Perhaps increased compensation, a promotion, or career development? Employees may be more motivated to head back to the office if they can expect some form of career advancement as a result.
Many decision-makers point to enhanced collaboration and company culture as reasons for returning to the office. While these are valid justifications, consider whether others are influencing your perception.
Often, a lack of trust plays a bigger, albeit underlying, role in RTO (return-to-office) policies. For example, our research revealed that a third of senior-level managers said they believe employees are more productive in the office due to easier supervision.
Ask yourself whether you trust your employees to work from home. Observe their remote performance, collaboration, and engagement. If they still yield positive results, you may be mistaking physical presence for productivity, which will likely do more harm than good.
Confronting these realities, while often tough, is the most effective way to arrive at a winning way of working for your workforce.
Related: Managing return-to-office policies
Our 2025 Talent Trends report, Compete on Clarity, includes data from thousands of U.S. professionals and employers. Download your free copy for actionable insights to help you create a workforce strategy for the current work landscape.
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