Why are we still talking about return to office?

Think of how much has happened since March 2020 when millions of employees started working from home: Two presidential elections, war and humanitarian crises, countless climate disasters, a roller-coaster economy of inflation and interest rates, the birth of ChatGPT and AI anxiety, eight Taylor Swift albums, and an endless string of debates about if, how, and when employees should return to office (RTO).

The first wave of RTO started in late 2021 and early 2022. But here we are at the end of 2024 still debating the topic. So what’s really behind the yearslong struggle over return to office and where do we go from here?

Hybrid versus full-time in-office

Most companies who started to call employees back to the office did so with a hybrid model, a compromise that was either the best or worst of both worlds depending on who you asked. 

Most companies that opted for the hybrid model offered two to three days in the office in the middle of the week. Employees could still have some flexibility and no commute a couple days a week, and employers got the face time and in-person collaboration that they desired. But recently, companies including the Washington Post, Amazon, and Apple have said that even a few days of remote work stifles innovation.

Yet, research doesn’t support their claims. In fact, as Fast Company contributor Russ Kennedy points out, more than 80% of hybrid employees report being highly engaged at work, compared to 72% of on-site employees, and Stanford researchers found that hybrid work improves employee morale and boosts corporate profits. 

Many have pointed out that a sense of power and control are what’s behind the continued push to have employees in the office. 

Power and control

Some managers even admitted that control was their main motivation. In a 2022 survey of more than 1,000 managers and executives, and more than 1,000 owners on freelance platform Fiverr, one-third said that employees are more motivated when they know they are being watched by managers; a quarter said they wanted employees in the office so they would take shorter breaks.

However, employees disagree: In a 2020 survey of 800 employers, 94% said productivity was the same as, or higher, than it was before the pandemic.

Data is on the employees’ side in this debate: Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom found that hybrid working has no negative impact on business performance. According to a recent Fast Company article by Mark Dixon, Bloom’s research found that businesses can see productivity increases of about 4%. If that’s not enough, employee satisfaction also increased, while resignation rates dropped.

There is also a belief that some employers are using RTO mandates as a method of “quiet firing.” Since it’s been so widely covered how much employees prefer remote and hybrid work, when they are forced to return, they may quit, thereby saving their company the costs of severance associated with layoffs. The data backs this up too: ResumeBuilder surveyed 756 business leaders who had implemented a return-to-office (RTO) mandate since 2021 and found that eight in 10 companies had lost talent due to their mandates.

Real estate

Another reason why the RTO debate has dragged on so long has nothing to do with people or the work they do and more to do with loss cost. In a recent Fast Company article, Emily Levine, executive vice president at recruitment firm Career Group, said “[Companies are] also feeling as though they’re paying a lot of money in rent, so to only have people come on-site two days a week, they may as well forgo their real estate.”

But since commercial leases last between five and 10 years, many companies are locked into staying in their offices and call their employees back as a way to justify the cost. The result is what Levine calls a “misalignment” between what employers and employees want.

Advice for managers

If you’re a top decision-maker at your company, your remote/hybrid/in-office policy should reflect your business needs as well as the needs and preferences of your staff. You likely know by now how your teams work best together and have four years of lived data to show how innovation and productivity are impacted. But if you need more information, an employee survey is a good starting place.

RTO policies get trickier for middle managers who are often pulled in both directions, navigate the challenges of supporting their teams while committing to a company policy—even if they disagree with it. 

Executive coaches Faith Cohen and Craig Revord point out that “having a framework to guide challenging conversations in managing up and floating problems to the top, while also empowering teams below is crucial.” They recommend the CUBE model developed by Neuberg Gore. CUBE stands for:

C: Create the context and objectives of the conversation. Tell executive leadership something like: “I’d like to discuss feedback from the team regarding the new in-person mandates, as morale is low.” 

U: Understand each other’s world and put theirs first. Ask open-ended questions, such as, “What’s the reasoning behind these mandates?” or “How can I support you in adapting?” After gaining insight, share your own thoughts and concerns.

B: Brainstorm options. Try brainstorming questions instead of solutions. Once you identify the most accurate question, a clear solution often naturally unfolds. 

E: End with commitments. This could be commitments and a policy change or it could just be scheduling a follow-up/check-in. 

Advice for employees

If your boss wants you in the office and you want to work from home, it’s likely that all the statistics laid out in this article wouldn’t convince them. So what will? Just like making the case for why you deserve a raise or a promotion, you should come prepared with examples of how well you’ve worked in the times you have worked remotely.

Show the volume of work and projects you’ve completed and how it compares to the amount of work you can do in the office. This can help illustrate how productive you personally can be. You should also highlight the ways you are still able to collaborate with your colleagues, as that’s often one of the biggest reasons employers give for wanting everyone in the office.