Why Do Employers Insist on a Return to the Office?

Marketing Viewpoint by Ruth Winett

Forty Percent of Workers Would "Take a Pay Cut"* To Stay Remote

Musical chairs at the office

The Federal Government, Dell, Amazon, AT&T, Walmart, UPS, and Meta are calling workers back to the office. Technology made remote work possible during the Covid pandemic. Now, many workers prefer to continue this arrangement. Just how many workers are remote? What are the advantages and disadvantages to remote work for both employers and employees?

In 2025 an estimated 36.2 million Americans or 22% of the workforce are thought to be working remotely, according to Upwork.
Over half of US workers are hybrid workers, reports Naveen Kumar.
Forty percent of US workers would be willing to take a 5+ percent pay cut to stay home, including 42 percent of men and 37 percent of women. Ten percent would even take a 20 percent pay cut to avoid the office, based on research by Harvard Business School professors.
In an Owl Labs survey, 32 percent of the respondents said, �They would quit their Job if they were not able to continue working remotely.�

Returning Employees to the Office Benefits Employers

The new administration has ordered federal employees to return to the office, challenging collective-bargaining agreements. In addition, 79 percent of �US CEOS� expect their staffs to return to the office within three years, concluded KPMG. The anticipated benefits of having everyone under one roof are:

Productivity Improvements�While some studies found that unsupervised remote employees are less productive, others found that they are more productive. More research is needed.
More Engaged Employees�Employees will know co-workers better; therefore, collaboration will increase.

Returning to the Office Inconveniences Employees

Long commutes. Ryan Holmes asked 12,210 remote workers how much time they would spend commuting: 34 percent replied 30-60 minutes daily, 34 percent 1-2 hours, and 23 percent 2+ hours.
Employees working in the office have annual expenses estimated by Flexjobs to be as high as $12,000 per year.
Less flexibility in how workers spend their time.
Less time to take care of personal affairs.
Musical chairs at the office. An Amazon location in Austin, Texas, has 900 parking spaces, but 2,000 employees. Amazon�s 18 locations near San Francisco are �short at least 800 desks, according to Wall Street Journal reporting.

Working Remotely Also Has Disadvantages

Sixty-nine percent of remote workers experience burnout; 53 percent feel disconnected from co-workers; and 47 percent are bothered by at-home distractions, according to Kumar, citing data from Monster, Forbes, and Statista.

To encourage a return to the office, companies sometimes offer �perks,� such as assisting with commuting expenses, eliminating ��dress codes,� [and providing] more privacy at work� (Paul Davidson article). Others will continue to support a hybrid model to give their workers flexibility.

In addition, employers must prepare for the return to the office by providing enough offices, desks, and parking spaces. They should also provide onboarding assistance and allow workers to have more flexible schedules. Managers need to be good role models as well to prevent �coffee badging� -- swiping badges, sipping a cup of coffee, and disappearing soon afterwards. This practice occurs either because no one monitors the employees or because managers are also �coffee badging,� according to Davidson. Clearly workers� expectations have changed regarding working conditions. Workers looking for new jobs will look for organizations that offer hybrid or remote options.

Sources:

"Amazon�s Messy Return to the Office," L Bindley and Preetika Rana, Wall Street Journal, 2/15/22, B1.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/business/remote-work-effects.html *Charting the Value of Remote Work: Would You Take a Pay Cut? Working Knowledge, Ana Elena Azp�rua reporting on the research of Zoe Cullen and Christopher Stanton of the Harvard Business School.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/commuting-us-facts-statistics-200426818.html (Jessica Gibson). "Dell tells workers to be back in office 5 days a week," Camilo Fonseca, Boston Globe, 2/5/25.

I Polled 1.7 Million Professionals Over 6 Months About Remote Work. Here's The Verdict In 10 Handy Stats | LinkedIn. [Ryan Holmes polled his nearly 2 million LinkedIn followers.]

"Office Order Threatens Unions' Power," L. Kusisto, L.E. Whyte and E. Mulvaney, Wall Street Journal, 2/17/25.

Statistics On Remote Workers That Will Surprise You (2025). [Apollo Technical] "'Tis the season to be...coffee badging? Strategy helping workers dodge return-to-office decrees," Paul Davidson, The Daily News, 2/9/25.

25+ Remote Work Statistics & Trends (2025): Updated Data.

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