For the past several years, companies and employees have been caught in an ongoing debate over the future of work. Will remote and hybrid work remain a lasting fixture, or will organizations continue pushing employees back to the office? While some employers have maintained flexibility, others, including the federal government, have steadily increased their expectations for in-person work.
To track how workplace policies and employee sentiments have evolved, Perceptyx’s Center for Workforce Transformation conducted a longitudinal Workplace Panel study, surveying 11,100 employees about these issues between July 2024 and January 2025. The data suggests that while remote work is stabilizing, stricter return-to-office (RTO) policies are growing, despite rising resistance from employees.
Remote and Hybrid Work: Stability Amid Policy Shifts
Despite ongoing discussions about the decline of remote work, our data suggests that workplace arrangements have remained relatively stable over the past six months. While some organizations have tightened their remote or hybrid policies, broad return-to-office (RTO) mandates reported in the media haven’t translated to broad shifts in where people work.
On average, over the past four months of data collection:
- 70% of employees work fully on-site,
- 15% work fully remotely, and
- 15% have a hybrid work arrangement.
Although individual months show slight fluctuations, these shifts fall within expected variation, reinforcing that remote and hybrid work have not seen drastic declines. Instead, organizations appear to be adjusting their approach gradually, such as through policy refinements, hiring more in-person employees, or evolving their stance on workplace flexibility.
RTO Rules Are Tightening. Employee Resistance Is Rising.
One of the most notable findings from our study is that organizations are quietly tightening their in-office expectations:
- Stricter RTO policies are on the rise, with 61% of employees in January saying their organization had made remote/hybrid work rules more restrictive (e.g., being asked to spend two days a week in the office or the elimination of remote work entirely), up from 55% in July.
- More than half (51%) of employees now work in organizations that do not offer hybrid work arrangements.
- Senior leaders are the primary enforcers of stricter RTO policies, yet they have the most flexibility in where they work. Just under half of VPs and executives work hybrid or remotely compared to less than 1 in 4 individual contributors.
Despite these efforts, employee pushback is growing. Nearly half (46%) of employees say they would quit if required to spend more time in the office, and that number has steadily increased throughout our study period. This suggests that while organizations are tightening in-person requirements, they may be underestimating the potential retention risks of these decisions.
The Leadership Divide: Officism and the Push for RTO
One of the most striking takeaways from our data is the persistent officism, a term Perceptyx first coined in 2021. Officism is a proximity bias specifically targeted at remote workers. Although executives and VPs are more likely to work remotely themselves, they consistently express stronger preferences for in-office work than individual contributors.
- Leaders are more than twice as likely as individual contributors to believe remote employees are less productive. 54% of executives and VPs agree, compared to 24% of individual contributors.
- Nearly 60% of executives and VPs believe in-person collaboration is more effective than hybrid or remote work. This is compared to 45% of individual contributors.
- Leaders also see the office as a gateway to advancement. 60% of executives and VPs say employees in the physical workplace will have more career growth opportunities compared to 41% of individual contributors.
This disconnect between leadership and employees may be influencing stricter RTO policies, with decision-makers prioritizing in-office work even as employee sentiment remains divided.
Where Does the RTO Debate Go From Here?
The past few years have consisted of a balancing act between employers tightening RTO policies and employees resisting these changes. As hybrid and remote work settle into a steady rhythm, organizations face an important decision: Will they continue enforcing stricter in-office policies at the risk of disengagement and turnover, or will they refine hybrid strategies that support both flexibility and business needs?
To move forward effectively, organizations should consider the following:
- Reevaluate the true purpose of RTO mandates by moving beyond executive intuition to data-driven decision-making. Companies should conduct extensive employee listening and comprehensive productivity assessments that measure actual output across different work arrangements rather than relying on subjective perceptions that often favor traditional models. This means analyzing role-specific requirements to determine which positions genuinely benefit from in-person collaboration versus those that can thrive remotely and calculating the ROI of maintaining expensive office space against measurable benefits in innovation, culture, and productivity.
The significant disconnect between executive beliefs (54% believe remote employees are less productive) and frontline worker experiences (only 24% agree) suggests that leaders should institute reverse mentoring programs and participate in cross-level workplace committees to gain a firsthand understanding of workplace realities beyond the executive suite. Organizations that test workplace policies with smaller teams before full implementation will gather invaluable real-world feedback that can prevent costly retention and engagement mistakes. - Address employee concerns transparently through genuine dialogue rather than simply announcing policy changes. Companies should establish dedicated feedback channels specifically for RTO concerns, conduct regular anonymous pulse surveys to track sentiment changes, and provide specific responses to common objections rather than generic corporate messaging. Leaders must acknowledge the financial and lifestyle impacts of returning to the office — including commuting costs, childcare challenges, and work-life balance disruptions — while developing comprehensive transition support programs. This might include commuting subsidies, flexible scheduling during adaptation periods, expanded dependent care options, and well-being initiatives addressing the mental health challenges associated with workplace transitions.
The growing employee resistance (46% would quit if required to spend more time in the office) signals that organizations cannot simply mandate changes without meaningful engagement and support. Companies should communicate clear, data-backed reasoning for any in-office requirements while remaining open to adjusting approaches based on employee feedback and operational outcomes. - Develop truly flexible work models that move beyond rigid day-counting approaches to more nuanced strategies focused on work activities and outcomes. Over half of hybrid and on-site employees and a third of remote employees believe that collaboration is more effective when everyone is physically together. Regardless of work location, it's critical that organizations provide teams with purposeful collaboration opportunities. Organizations should redesign spaces to facilitate activities that uniquely benefit from in-person interaction — collaborative problem-solving, relationship building, and creative brainstorming — rather than replicating environments where employees sit silently on video calls. This activity-based approach designates specific purposes for office attendance (collaborative workshops, onboarding, team building) while maintaining flexibility for focused independent work. Companies can implement core collaboration hours or designated in-office days that prioritize high-value team interactions while allowing flexibility otherwise.
When developing these models, organizations should focus on which specific work activities genuinely improve through in-person collaboration rather than imposing arbitrary day requirements that may create resistance without corresponding benefits. The most effective flexible work models offer clear parameters that ensure team coordination while respecting individual preferences and productivity patterns. - Focus on creating equitable experiences for all workers to prevent a two-tier workforce where career advancement is tied to visibility rather than performance. Based on our data, nearly half of all employees believe that there are more opportunities for career growth and development when employees are in a physical workplace together. Even among remote employees, nearly 4 in 10 believe that being on-site would provide them with more development. Organizations should systematically audit promotion and development data across work arrangements to identify and address any disadvantages facing remote or hybrid workers. This involves establishing clear visibility protocols that create structured opportunities for all employees to demonstrate contributions and build relationships regardless of location.
Building organizational capability for this new reality requires investing in manager training for distributed leadership, developing team collaboration techniques that work across locations, implementing multi-channel employee listening to gauge whether these systems are truly equitable, and creating clear communication guidelines for hybrid environments. Organizations that treat workplace strategy as an ongoing conversation rather than a one-time decision will be best positioned to adapt as workplace trends continue to evolve, building systems that foster both employee engagement and organizational effectiveness without compromising either.
Four years into the RTO debate, one thing remains clear: Employees are willing to work in ways that maximize both engagement and efficiency. Will organizations embrace a new future of work or push us back to more traditional models?
Beyond Mandates: Build a Workplace Strategy That Drives Success
The data doesn't lie: thoughtful workplace strategies that balance business needs with employee preferences lead to higher engagement, stronger retention, and enhanced productivity. Don't let outdated assumptions about where work happens drive decisions that could impact your organization's ability to attract and retain talent. Start creating a workplace approach that respects both in-office collaboration and remote productivity — where every employee’s work arrangement enables both their well-being and their ability to drive organizational success.
Schedule a meeting with Perceptyx to explore how our research-backed workplace listening and analytics solutions can help you develop a data-driven approach to workplace strategy that balances flexibility with business outcomes.
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