Assessing the state of RTO: Employers push ahead, while employees push back

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease, employers started reassessing their workplaces. Some decided to call everyone back to the office, while others continued work-from-home (WFH) arrangements on a permanent and large scale. Still others, seeking the best of both worlds, chose a hybrid model, whereby employees work from home some days and in the office others. This far into the post-pandemic era, it’s clear change in the workplace is still shaking out.

What employers are doing and why

WFH arrangements caught on quickly during the height of the pandemic, and many employees found they appreciated the flexibility of WFH. Many also found they could be more productive working alone in their own space than amid the distractions of the office.

Many employers also got comfortable with remote work and decided to continue the practice or allow hybrid schedules. Plus, those arrangements enabled employers to reduce their need for expensive office space.

But as time passed, many employers found they preferred most employees in the office at least most of the time, and they began issuing return-to-office (RTO) mandates. Often, those mandates were met with pushback from workers happy to leave the office behind.