Return to Office

What's at stake?

Return to Office

In March 2020, the world essentially shut down overnight and most workers didn’t return to the office for almost two years. During this time, we learned how to communicate and collaborate effectively via multiple video conferencing and digital platforms. Businesses successfully implemented new technologies, launched new customers and onboarded new workers by the thousands. In a podcast episode of CEO Perspectives, Dr. Rebecca Ray, EVP of human capital at The Conference Board stated, “this is the biggest change to the workplace since WWII when women went to work in factories.”

Now, during this post-pandemic era, many executives are faced with the challenge of enticing employees back to the office. The reasons for in-person office attendance are certainly abundant. There’s a bonding experience that happens among employees who are together, and that’s when real work friendships and connections happen. On-the-job training is also easier when you’re able to stop by a coworker’s desk to ask a quick question instead of “pinging” someone and hoping for a response. And working in an office fosters collaboration. This interaction is what leads to innovation and change.

The list of pros to working in an office is long; however, despite the many benefits of in-person attendance, workers are pushing back on return-to-office mandates. But as organizations are continuously faced with ongoing labor shortages and a “job-seeker’s market,” it’s important to take a closer look on why offering flexible work-from-home benefits should now be a part of our “new normal.”

Global differences in return to office

Resistance to return to office has varied globally, with office occupancy at 70%-90% in Europe and the Middle East, but only 40%-60% in the US (Jones Lang LaSalle). Some Asian countries are experiencing office occupancy of 90-110%, meaning more people are coming into the office than pre-pandemic. This stark difference between Asia and the US has been attributed to not only cultural differences amongst employees, but America’s larger homes, longer commutes and high job availability (Wall Street Journal).

Workers are using the leverage of a tight labor market to push back on return to office mandates, especially at larger companies where remote work boosted company profits and markedly improved employee wellbeing. Companies should look at meaningful ways to encourage workers into the office, balancing the need for deep individual work and in-person collaboration. A survey by Gensler found that 83% of employees would return to the office at least one more day a month if the office provides a mix of these experiences, with younger workers prioritizing hospitality/team events.

Flexibility is key

The desire for flexibility and remote/hybrid work options have only increased following the pandemic and is seemingly here to stay. LinkedIn reported that US remote-job postings on LinkedIn reached a record high of 20% of all US jobs in February 2022, and yet they attracted over 50% of all applications. By September 2022, remote-job posts decreased to 14% of all posts, but still acquired 52% of all US applications.

There is a clear mismatch between workers and employers in this debate, and the burden is on businesses to not just enforce return to office, but implement the correct change management and “qualify the why” (Bernard Coleman).

A survey by Gartner found that only 3% of employers would fire non-compliant employees, so it’s clear to see why resistance has been so high when firms are also not engaged with their own policies. Talented workers will always prioritize flexibility, and firms must ensure they align with this to attract talent and not repel it in this tight labor market. A recent Gallup survey shared, “the optimal engagement boost occurs when employees spend 60% to 80% of their time — or three to four days in a five-day workweek — working off site,” so the balance between remote and in-office work can increase engagement and productivity.

Prioritize relationships and culture

A McKinsey Attrition survey found 51% of workers who left their roles cite a lack of belonging as one of the top factors, and further states that while employers prioritized transactional factors as the reason for attrition, employees were more likely to focus on relational factors. Workers value the connection and culture of their companies and return to office policies must clearly promote activities and benefits that can foster these relationships, outside of just worker productivity. Allowing employees, the flexibility to work both at home and in the office, and being intentional with in-office training, team building and networking, will allow workers to benefit from this new way of working.