Here’s Why Forcing Workers Back to the Office Is a Bad Idea

You can’t go home again, as the old saying goes. But the office? Welcome back! Please find your seats and someplace to plug in your laptop. 

At least that seems to be the message from many employers lately. It’s still early in 2023 and the work-from-anywhere wars are raging harder than ever. More and more bosses are issuing return-to-office (or RTO) mandates, even as workers demand flexibility.  

Some believe that a sagging economy coupled with soft spots in the labor market have left companies holding all the cards. Others argue that forcing butts into chairs will send top talent running for the exits.

“There’s a little bit of a tug-of-war going on right now,” David Garfield, global head of industries at consulting firm AlixPartners, told The Wall Street Journal. “Employers are not having an easy time of it.”

And with an overwhelming percentage of workers worried about losing their jobs, neither are employees.

So as we enter year three of the work-from-anywhere experiment, let’s take a moment and examine the implications of RTO mandates and what they mean for the workplace and the people who staff it. 

Here are three reasons why you may want to rethink forcing your employees back to the office:

1. Top performers may flee: Compulsory in-office work drive turnover

“Companies that are trying to drag back time will lose their best talent,” Raj Choudhury, an economist from Harvard Business School, told Wired. Raj says that, historically, the most sought-after job candidates have been the ones who’ve shaped what the workplace looks like, not their bosses.

“There are two kinds of companies,” Raj explains. “One is going to embrace work-from-anywhere, and the second is in denial — I feel those companies will lose their workforce.”

Indeed, research shows companies that enforce mandatory RTO policies are more likely to experience turnover issues than those that don’t. According to a 2022 report by Criteria Corp, 56% of hiring professionals at companies that operate mostly in person say turnover is a major issue. That number drops to 50% for hybrid companies and 41% for companies that are primarily remote. 

And no industry is immune to the churn. Even the finance sector, which has banged the RTO drum loudest, is feeling the effects. Employees are walking away from top banks like JPMorgan for their one-size-fits-all policies while smaller, more flexible firms are seeing an influx of new candidates.

“I can’t say we benefited with more hires,” John Pierce, head of business development at Cetera Financial Group, told ThinkAdvisor. “What I can tell you is that our pipeline has dramatically increased with advisors who are dissatisfied with their current firms.”

2. Employee engagement suffers: Mandated RTO can lead to higher levels of burnout and intent to leave

You don’t need a PhD in industrial-organizational psychology to know that engaged employees are better for business. But it sure doesn’t hurt.

In a blog post for professional coaching and training platform BetterUp, Dr. Erin Eatough analyzed survey data from more than 2,000 U.S. workers to gauge their attitudes around RTO, and the results are as you might expect.

Employees in hybrid or remote work arrangements felt “more supported, more cared for, and had a greater sense of belonging” compared to their in-person counterparts. 

That last one — belonging — may leave leaders scratching their heads. After all, wouldn't a workforce under one roof presumably be closer and therefore share a deeper sense of belonging?

Not exactly, Erin says. “Belonging isn’t about occupying the same physical space,” she argues. “It’s about inclusion and acceptance. When you feel like your authentic self is accepted and you’re part of something larger than yourself, you’re likely to feel you belong.”

Ben Wigert, director of research and strategy for workplace management at Gallup, is a little less touchy-feely on the subject. He says that forcing workers back under the threat of discipline can lead to disengagement, fear, and distrust. 

A Gallup survey shows that those employees experience significantly lower engagement and well-being and significantly higher intent to leave and levels of burnout.

And as any hiring manager on the planet can tell you, those are significant problems. 

3. DEI could take a hit: Workers from underrepresented groups are especially in favor of remote options

Even before the pandemic had us spending quality time with our cats, office life was due for a makeover. With mind-numbing, one-size-fits-all workspaces, soul-crushing commutes, and increasing work-life imbalance, it was becoming clear that the office-centric model wasn’t working anymore. 

That’s especially true if you’re not a white male.

A study by Future Forum shows that people of color are far more likely to favor remote work than their white male colleagues. In the United States, some 97% of Black knowledge workers said they’d prefer a hybrid or fully remote model compared with only 79% of white knowledge workers.   

Why the gap? Because the office environment hasn’t always been kind to Black professionals, who are more likely to experience discrimination and microaggressions when working in the office. Same goes for other underrepresented groups.

“This isn’t about simply giving Black employees the ability to work from home, while white executives return to old habits,” says Sheela Subramanian, vice president of Future Forum. “This is about fundamentally changing your own ways of working and holding people accountable for driving inclusivity.”

Sheela says that true equality depends on a wholesale redesign of the workplace. “While flexible work alone is not a panacea,” she says, “it is an essential starting point for moving away from many of the structural inequities that pervade the U.S. workplace.”

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