Remote work options continue, despite employer return-to-office demands

There’s been a lot of talk recently that more employers have been asking employees to return to the office. Meanwhile, employees who have worked remotely have liked the benefits of offsite work or hybrid work and want to retain that option.

Both sides make their arguments. Employers contend that remote worker productivity is difficult to monitor. Teamwork, they maintain, requires face-to-face collaboration. Employees counter that they are more productive when not distracted by other office workers and that technology makes remote collaboration easy and effective. 

Companies are pressing employees to return to onsite work

Still, employers want employees back at work, onsite. A Resume Builder survey of 1,000 corporate decision makers found that 90% of companies will require return to office by the end of 2024, claiming that onsite work improves revenue. This is a stark increase in only a year, when in 2023 only 27% of companies required a return to office.  

The difference now is that many employers are not requiring a return to work for 40 hours a week. A survey by Deloitte from last November reported that 65% of CFOs expect their company to offer hybrid work arrangements in 2024. Many companies are requiring three onsite days a week and give employees the option to work remotely the other two days. Nor are employers ready to push onsite work too much. Only 28% of respondents to the Resume Builder survey said they would follow through and fire the resisting remote employees.

Remote work remains strong compared to pre-pandemic times

Despite employer efforts to recall workers back to the office, remote work between 2020 and 2024 has increased almost 10-fold. Today, some 25% of employees have retained the right to continue offsite work, at least part of the time. This compares to 3% of employees who worked offsite before the pandemic. In other words, hybrid work is here to stay, but perhaps not at levels during the height of the pandemic.

Tight labor market is key reason employers are relenting

Why are most employers stopping short of firing all employees who insist on some remote work? The answer may be the shrinking labor market.

The current unemployment rate is about 3.7%. This is close to what economists call “full employment,” which means that employers are operating in an economy where they can’t easily find enough workers. And employers know if they insist that workers return to full-time office work, many will quit and find another job where remote work is allowed at least part of the time. For now, workers have the upper hand.

Meanwhile, employers are stepping up monitoring remote employees. The Resume Builder study also found that 8 in 10 companies will track office attendance of remote workers—both when they are onsite and when they are remote.

Still, remote workers continue to enjoy the many benefits of offsite work: less commuting time, fewer distractions, more flexibility around childcare and medical appointments, and a better work/life balance.