Why workers are still winning the return-to-office fight
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Even amid layoffs and a tightening economy, employees are resisting manager demands to be in the office – and often winning. How?
For nearly three years, workers and employers have been locking horns over the return to office. Employees who came to prize the flexibility of pandemic-era remote work aren’t backing down as they fight with companies that want them back at their office desks.
It is, in some ways, strange this battle is still raging – especially as the labour market has become more employer-favourable throughout the past several months. At the height of the Great Resignation, employers faced a prolonged hiring crisis with a talent shortage. With workers holding the upper hand, many demanded hybrid- and remote-working policies as part of their employment packages.
But as an uncertain economy has led to a series of mass layoffs throughout the past year, many large firms have recalled their employees. In many cases, they’ve backtracked on previous promises of workplace flexibility, with some demanding a full return to office.
Yet, employees – not companies – still seem to be the ones dictating the return-to-office rules. In many cases, they’re ignoring calls to go in; meeting mandates with fierce pushback; and even causing staunch supporters of in-person work, like large financial institutions, to ease their demands. CEOs are also digging in, with many announcing recent plans to double down on stricter return-to-office mandates – and even threatening disciplinary action or termination for workers that refuse to comply.
Intuitively, in an unstable economic climate, it would seem power has decisively swung back in favour of employers on this issue. In reality, the situation is more of a stalemate – with employees maintaining a surprising, if slight, advantage.
The power struggle
At the beginning of the pandemic, employers expected their workers to be out of the office for mere weeks. But that soon turned into months, then years. Many employees found a remote-work set-up they came to love fiercely, and ultimately refused to let go of, when offices began to open again. Over time, even major investment banks – overwhelming supporters of a full office return – slashed their real estate footprints, despite issuing repeated directives for workers to go back.
At the height of the Great Resignation and ensuing protracted staffing shortages, it made sense for organisations to accommodate employee demands if they wanted to attract and retain staff. According to Gallup poll data, 67% of US white-collar employees worked from home at least partially by September 2021 – with 41% doing so exclusively.
These new habits seemed right and fair, with the work still getting done. So, any sort of change was perceived as a cost: if returning to the office is good for my manager, then it must be bad for me – Ayelet Fishbach
As the economy began to slow down in 2022, however, employers regained some power. Many managers started to request their workers return to the office. “Leaders think if they’re going to drive next-level performance in their organisations, the best way is by having people together for at least part of the workweek,” says Jim Link, the chief human resources officer at the Society for Human Resource Management (Shrm), based in Virginia, US.
The ask has often been met with employee backlash, however, even with the power pendulum beginning to swing away from the workforce. As mandates began to roll out, workers threatened to quit if bosses brought them back – in some cases, they did. As a result, some employers backed down. For example, in Big Tech, Apple loosened its return-to-office policy following employee criticism, by allowing teams to select which third mandated in-person day of the workweek they would attend the office.
This particular employer-employee disagreement has spurred a years-long power struggle, says Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioural science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, US. “Over time, workers found a new way of doing things that stuck,” she says. “These new habits seemed right and fair, with the work still getting done. So, any sort of change was perceived as a cost: if returning to the office is good for my manager, then it must be bad for me.”
Many workers have made it clear they do not want a widescale return-to-office. Yet, in late 2022, as an economic downturn loomed and layoffs ticked up, companies cross-sector began backtracking on flexibility, mandating more in-office days and set schedules. Some firms that had previously confirmed a work-from-anywhere policy, such as the ride-share company Lyft, went back on those promises, and demanded their workers return to the office.
Still, even in the current culture of job cuts, many workers are not heeding the call to return to a commuter lifestyle. Instead, they seem widely united in their push for flexible office policies, and have dug in their heels on the issue.
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Some of the continued resistance, says Shrm’s Link, is because many workers are aware they’re still in demand, even during a period of mass headcount reductions. “There continues to be a high number of job openings, particularly in industries where there remains a skill gap: tech and financial investment firms, despite their layoffs. That continues to be a source of strength for employees, who continue to prioritise flexibility.”
Fischbach agrees that some return-to-office mandates may be stalled because worker productivity also remains high, and middle managers may be more willing than senior leaders to allow well-functioning teams to work from home. “Compared to executives looking at the longer-term vision of the organisation, managers are more likely to focus on the day-to-day: and they know workers are perhaps even more productive working from home.”
What happens next
In attempting to break the stalemate, the continued power struggle is changing how employers are enacting policies. As employees continue to defy mandates, some companies are now issuing ultimatums, making in-person attendance a disciplinary issue.
But the struggle to get workers back into the office may well drag on, say experts. “While employees have learned they can be just as productive in the day-to-day working from home, employers still look more towards future opportunities brought by in-person activity,” says Link. “It means workers will likely continue to voice their concerns about a full office return, while managers are unlikely to stop asking their employees back.”
Workers will likely continue to voice their concerns about a full office return, while managers are unlikely to stop asking their employees back – Jim Link
The deadlock may persist even in the face of layoffs. Ryan Luby, senior expert and associate partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company, based in New York, says although a rise in unemployment may provide employers greater leverage that leads to a bump in office attendance, workers’ expectations for flexibility are here to stay. He cites a July 2022 McKinsey survey of 13,532 global workers showing that flexibility is behind only salary in motivators to stay in a role. “In a world working flexibly, commuting time is handed back to the employee for work, rest and leisure. Then combine that with the office destination: if that’s not fantastic, and no better than working from a kitchen table and being able to sleep for longer, then people won’t want to go in.”
Employers are aware of this too, adds Luby. That’s why, in a still-competitive labour market (the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 339,000 jobs were added to the economy in May 2023), many continue to offer flexibility as a recruitment tool. “Hiring managers still need to cater to the preferences of top talent – and they tend to expect flexibility,” he says.
As the disconnect between employer and employee preferences continues, a likely middle ground will be a hybrid-work policy. Still, workers and their bosses aren’t likely to easily agree on how many days – or which – should be spent in the office. As more companies renege on remote working and settle on a structured three-day hybrid model, workers are still prioritising their flexibility: a 2022 survey of 30,878 global knowledge workers by workplace insights firm Leesman, seen by BBC Worklife, shows that 41% intend to be in the office just one day a week, instead of three.
Employers will likely always be outnumbered by these workers – which means employees are the ones who are prolonging the return-to-office process – and, for now, retain the upper hand. “We expect the disagreement between leader and employee expectations in how often they should attend the workplace to continue,” says Link. “Return-to-office mandates are contentious in many cases – it’s an ongoing negotiation.”