Companies Continue the Push to Bring Workers Back to Office

While CEOs concede that full-time office work is done, business leaders push for workers to spend more time working away from home.   October 31, 2023


By Dave Lubach, Executive Editor


Companies will step up their efforts to bring employees back into the office more regularly according to a recent CNBC report

The financial network reported last month that 90 percent of companies are saying they will return employees to the office in 2024. While companies are varying their demands about how often employees will be asked to return to the office, according to a survey from Resume Builder. The company surveyed 1,000 company leaders and learned the following: 

  • 90 percent of companies plan to implement return-to-office policies by the end of 2024 
  • Nearly 30 percent say their company will threaten firing workers who don’t comply with in-office requirements 
  • Just 2 percent of the leaders polled say their company will never require employees to work in person 

For examples of updated work policies, well-known companies such as Goldman Sachs want employees in the office full-time and Google is considering in-office attendance into performance reviews. 

Many CEOs, especially at high profile companies like Amazon, maintain that office work boosts company culture as well as productivity, but research has yet to prove or disprove those conclusions. 

While business leaders may be split on the benefits of working in the office, most workplace observers don’t see a return to the five-day workweek in the office. One poll quoted in the article said 68 percent of office workers support a hybrid schedule. 

“I think the concept of spending five days a week in the office is dead,” says Brian Elliott, the founder of the Future Forum, a firm that studies workplace trends. “That top-down, one-size-fits-all approach can lead to a lot of resentment among workers.” 

Dave Lubach is executive editor of the facility market. 

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