For a majority of office workers, among the few silver linings relating to the COVID-19 pandemic was a welcome respite from commuting. Remote work became a staple of everyday life for many U.S. companies.
It’s fair to say that by now, the pendulum is very evidently swinging back, as suggested by the results of two new studies.
In a Willis Towers Watson (WTW) survey of 308 medium and large employers, 61% said they had instituted a formal policy requiring employees to be in the office for a minimum number of days per week.
Strong majorities of those surveyed said they believe face-to-face interaction improves employee engagement, strengthens corporate culture and increases productivity.
At the same time, though, more than half (51%) of organizations said they have no set rules for determining days on-site, so employees are free to choose the days they work remotely.
As employers strive to balance corporate and workforce needs regarding engagement and productivity by encouraging employees to return to the office, a lack of clear structure around designated office days will hinder progress toward improved team collaboration,” said Russ Wakelin, WTW’s senior director of rewards data, intelligence.
WTW noted in a press release that “there is still work to be done” to achieve a healthy work-life balance for workers. While a 2021 survey revealed that employers believed 43% of employees would have returned to working on-site full-time by now, according to the recent study only 34% are currently in the office for a majority of the week.
In the other study, Resume.org polled 900 business leaders at companies that went remote during the pandemic but have since implemented a return-to-office (RTO) policy.
Almost three-fourths (73%) of survey respondents said they will require employees to be in the office at least three days per week next year.
Half (49%) said they weren’t concerned that employees might quit over RTO policies, and only 6% said they were very concerned. Still, 27% are improving on-site dining facilities, gyms, and physical therapy, likely due to concerns for an uptick in attrition if employees’ needs are not taken into account, Resume.org opined.
Additionally, nearly 30% of Resume.org’s survey participants said they will mandate a full five-day week.
Existing leases of office space are a key factor in companies’ insistence that employees return to the office. According to Resume.org, two-thirds of companies currently lease office space, and almost half of the leases run through 2028 or later.
More than half (54%) of survey respondents said lease agreements had at least some impact on their RTO policies, and one in six (16%) said it had a major impact. Still, only about one in ten employers said they would lessen or eliminate RTO policies upon lease expiration.
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