After years of flip-flopping on remote and in-person work policies, most knowledge workers and employers seem to have reached a hybrid compromise, but questions remain as to whether the truce will last.
While not every worker wants to work from home and not every employer is demanding a return to the office, studies since the pandemic have consistently shown a clear divide between the two groups. One recent report from Ringover, for example, found that two-thirds of workers would accept a lower salary for a remote role, and nearly 80% are worried about a return-to-office mandate. The study also found that in-office days have steadily increased in America, from an average of 1.1 per week in 2021 to 3.4 last year.
Employers, meanwhile, largely have sought to bring workers back into the office. In 2021, many of the biggest tech companies began rolling out the first iteration of their RTO policies, only to pivot in the face of employee backlash and new COVID variants.
Amazon, for example, announced a full return to office in 2021, then switched to a policy that would allow team leaders to set the standard, only to later switch to a strict three-day in office requirement, which was met by employee petitions and walkouts. In November, CEO Andy Jassy announced greater enforcement measures and threatened the jobs of those that don’t comply.
Similar tussles have broken out at workplaces across the country and around the world as employers and employees jostle over work arrangements. After years of fighting, however, much of the workforce appears to be settling into a more standard hybrid schedule that neither side seems entirely satisfied with—but both may be willing to accept.
A Three-Day Compromise
According to a recent study conducted by global corporate real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, 90% of Fortune 100 employees are either hybrid or fully on-site, with an overall average of three days of weekly office attendance.
“2023 was really the year of many companies establishing their policies that had been hold outs,” said the study’s author and Jones Lang LaSalle’s research manager Jacob Rowden. “Moving into 2024, we’re going to see a lot less companies having a wholesale shift in their policies, and more companies focussing on enforcement and adoption of the policies that they’ve already rolled out.”
Rowden explains that after three years of remote and hybrid work experiments, many employers are ready to move past the workplace flexibility question and start making long-term plans based around a consistent policy.
“I’m sure we will still see incremental movements here and there, but it seems like most of the progress that we’ve made in the last year has gotten us close to an equilibrium,” he says. “You’re starting to see more of a clustering of policies according to industry, so now it’s the case that if you look at any company, and you look at a majority of their competitors and peers, they will all have very similar policies.”
Employers Are Ready to Move On
Though employers and employees both seem ready to compromise on a three-day in-office average, neither side seems entirely satisfied.
A resumebuilder.com survey from late 2023, for example, found that nine in ten employers will enforce an RTO mandate by the end of 2024. Furthermore, while remote roles have become less common, interest remains strong.
According to a study conducted by LinkedIn, remote jobs make up less than a tenth of positions advertised on the platform, yet they receive 46% of the applications—about five times more than the average.
“Based on some survey evidence we’ve seen in the broader public, employers might be ready to move on to other problems, whereas for workers, having that flexibility might be their primary problem,” says LinkedIn senior economist Kory Kantenga. “Having a backup if your babysitter cancels, being able to take care of sick or elderly parents; these are problems people deal with every day that being able to work flexibly helps, and they can’t deprioritize them because there’s another problem shareholders want to solve.”
Kantenga adds that labor market dynamics will largely dictate which side has more power at the negotiating table, and despite a slight pullback last year the market is once again trending in employees’ favor.
“There have been a lot of RTO mandates that have come out, but they haven’t actually worked—and we haven’t seen employers firing workers en masse—so there’s a sense of revealed preference there,” he says. “Taking a longer view, we have a population that is shrinking, and that means that labor supply is going to be constrained, so at some point the balance of power will tip toward workers.”
Most Employers Still Haven’t Embraced Flexibility
In the shorter term, however, it appears that most office workers are willing to settle for a hybrid compromise, even if it’s not their ideal option. According to a survey conducted by FlexJobs about 46% say hybrid is their top choice, 51% would prefer to be fully remote, and just 3% want to be in the office full-time.
“There’s a lot of leveling off that has happened in the last year regarding the average organization doing two to three days in the office,” says FlexJobs founder and CEO Sara Sutton. “I think the debates are still happening, the pendulum is still swinging, and I think we’re kind of vulnerable, because there’s been so many outside forces that have pushed remote; I don’t think it’s solid yet.”
Sutton explains that when it comes to setting flexibility policies, most employers feel like their hand has been forced, first by the pandemic, then by internal pressure from employees, but most aren’t fully bought in to the concept.
As such, she fears that instead of a sudden pivot, many have resigned to enforcing a full return-to-office in gradual steps, which may explain the current state of affairs, and may foreshadow more turmoil to come.
“Hybrid is where people are, but they’re not comfortable there—the majority of organizations still aren’t comfortable there—which is why it still feels volatile,” she says. “Until that part shifts, and the majority of companies choose hybrid as the best-case scenario… I will have a hard time believing it’s actually been accepted.”
