Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers have kept flexible working arrangements in place – and for plenty of people, the option to work from home is something they still truly value.
Globally, the average is 1.3 days a week spent working from home for those who have the opportunity to do so. But in the UK and Canada, it remains closer to two days. In Asia, the figure is nearer just one day a week.
Many companies are increasing the number of days they want employees in the office, or considering doing so. In the US, the Wall Street Journal reports that employers are asking for 12% more time in the office than at the beginning of 2024.
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JP Morgan Chase, the US banking giant which employs 316,000 people worldwide, demanded that all staff return to the office five days a week from March.
Media company Paramount wants staff back in the office five days a week from January 2026, and is offering severance payments for those who don’t want to return full-time.
Amazon has also called time on hybrid working, citing a desire to “strengthen its culture” and stating: “Our expectation is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances.”
On the other hand, the CEO of Santander Mike Regnier said: “I don’t think it’s absolutely vital that people spend all five days a week in the office as they did pre-Covid,” and he works from home two days a week.
Regnier even claimed he would have turned down the £3.3m a year job if it had required him to be in the office five days a week.
He’s not alone – around 1.1m UK workers changed jobs in 2024 because of a lack of flexible working options.
In June 2024, the most common number of days spent in the office for full-time office-workers in London was three.
Those who left a job in 2024 due to a lack of flexible working, by age (UK)
Most common number of days spent in the office, full-time central London office workers
Only one-third of employees would comply happily if asked to increase their days in the office. And a CBRE survey in the US has found that when employers demand three or more days in the office, they only get 75% compliance.
Which raises questions for employers around the importance of being in the office versus the happiness of their staff.
How employees around the world would react if their working-in-office mandate increased
Stanford University’s Institute for Economic Policy Research has found that: “Employees with children are much more likely to have a hybrid arrangement that involves one, two or three days a week of working from home. Employees without children are more likely to be fully in-person with no days a week at home, or to be fully remote with five or more days a week at home.”
And a survey by insurance company Vitality in 2024 found that hybrid workers are the healthiest employees, taking fewer days sick leave each year.
As the workplace continues to evolve, will companies find the right balance between collaboration and flexibility?
Or are we heading towards a fundamental divide between employers who prioritise office culture and those who embrace remote work?
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