Aug 18, 2025
Much to the dismay of many Americans, the COVID-induced work-from-home honeymoon is apparently over.
According to a survey by commercial real estate firm CBRE, employers managed to bring more workers back into the office over the last year than at any time since the pandemic began in 2020.
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Around 75% of the companies surveyed met their attendance goals — a roughly 14% jump from the year prior — while noting that their ultimate desire is to see employees in the office an average of 3.2 days a week.
In addition, 69% of the companies monitored attendance closely, while 37% enforced it — up 24% and 20% respectively over the previous year, CNBC reports.
This aligns with recent policy changes from the federal government and many major American companies — including Amazon, JPMorgan, and Ford, among others — mandating that workers must return to the office anywhere between three to five days a week.
All of which spells bad news for the roughly 22 million Americans who work remotely — the majority of whom, multiple studies show, have no desire to return to in-office work. And this clash between workers and their companies could lead to disastrous results for employee productivity, morale and, ultimately, retention.
Home sweet (work from) home
It’s no surprise that the majority of American workers — 71%, according to a 2024 American Staffing Association study — prefer to work fully, or at least partially, remote.
From improvements in mental health and stress levels to the added flexibility of working hours — not to mention saving significant amounts of money on commuting and related costs — there are countless advantages to working from home. But the advantages of remote work don’t just apply to the employees.
To start, many studies — including one by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom — found that remote or hybrid workers are just as productive as in-office staff.
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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics agreed in its summary of tracking remote work productivity across 61 different industries pre- and post-pandemic, while the U.S. Career Institute reports that 79% of managers feel that remote work boosts their team’s productivity. Another study touted the productivity of hybrid workers and added that they are often happier and healthier than their in-office counterparts.
Meanwhile, the global consultancy firm Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) found that hybrid employees who work from home at least 3.5 days a week clocked nearly two more hours per week than in-office employees. Extrapolating that further, AWA calculated that hybrid employees worked up to 9.5 more days per year compared to in-office employees.
Forcing employees back into the office could undo all of those gains that companies reap from remote and hybrid workers — if it doesn’t simply cost them the workers themselves.
A 2025 survey by FTI Consulting noted that 70% of American remote or hybrid workers would quit if forced to return to the office full-time. A Pew Research survey yielded similar results, with 61% of remote employees and 46% of hybrid workers saying they’d find another job.
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And that’s not necessarily a bluff. CNBC reported that “While remote job opportunities are down, the competition to land one is fierce: Just 20% of LinkedIn postings are for remote or hybrid jobs, but they’re getting 60% of applications on the platform.”
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Bridging the workplace divide
CNBC also pointed to a 2024 study that showed employers often ordered workers back to the office after company stock prices dipped.
Aside from hoping for a quick fix by gathering the troops in the office, other reasons that CNBC found for many companies eliminating remote work ranged from the desire “to make use of expensive corporate real estate” to “firms with male and powerful CEOs” who believe they’re losing control over employees who aren’t in the office.
This sort of decision-making can breed cynicism while also negatively affecting the productivity of employees forced back to the office — at least, those who don’t quit to find a more accommodating workplace.
That said, happy hybrid mediums do exist that can satisfy both employer and employee needs. In February, a study by the WTW Research Network concluded that employer flexibility with work hours and locales — prioritizing employee wellbeing, pay and benefit structure improvements and designing a more enticing office environment — would all go a long way to bridging that divide between remote and hybrid workers and the bosses who want them back on site.
Furthermore, employee experience consultancy LineZero added that clear communication, a dedication to work-life balance, inclusive leadership and the use of online project management tools could all help employers and employees find that sweet spot between fully remote and in-office work.
“In an ideal world,” as a Forbes deep dive into companies demanding a return to office summed up, “companies would excel at measuring output — what employees actually deliver and the value they create — eliminating the need to focus so much on managing or monitoring input, including where people work.”
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Mike Crisolago is a Staff Reporter at Moneywise with more than 15 years of experience in the journalism industry as a writer, editor, content strategist and podcast host. His work has appeared in various Canadian print and digital publications including Zoomer magazine, Quill & Quire and Canadian Family, among others. He’s also served as a mentor to students in Centennial College’s journalism program.
