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Newsweek
09-06-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Office Attendance Is Rising but Slowly, and a Lot Has Changed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The intensity of the "RTO debate" seems to have cooled as perhaps a new normal sets in. Even though attendance in the office is crawling up, that growth is slowing, and the entire paradigm of how companies use their spaces and to what ends has evolved greatly. While remote work continues to expand broadly, those dreaming of a fully remote future have been upended by some core realities: people are coming back to the office and, in the right circumstances, workers of all ages and levels value some office time. Regardless of their experience, role, function, geography or personal responsibilities, employees are eager to explore opportunities for greater autonomy and flexibility, and their time in the office needs to count. "Largely, we see companies enjoying a hybrid approach of two or three days a week in the office, where employees can collaborate and learn together, while giving workers some flexibility," Kate Duchene, CEO of the HR consulting firm RGP, previously told Newsweek. "If an organization does want employees to spend more time in the physical office, workers need to feel like it is an open and safe space for positive interactions with their peers and that they are having meaningful, purpose-led collaboration that is furthering their work." It's not back to 100 percent, it probably never will be, but weekly average attendance in Class A buildings, those with high-end, recent constructions and modern amenities, typically occupied by major companies and professional services firms, is at 74.8 percent over the last four weeks in the 10 largest U.S. metro areas, according to building security company Kastle Systems' latest office attendance data. On Tuesdays, the most popular day for people to go in, that figure is up to 92.1 percent. Kastle reports that the national average peak day attendance is 62.2 percent, with Chicago, New York City and three Texas cities (Dallas, Houston, Austin) running above average. The national average was under 60 percent at the same time of year in Kastle's 2023 reporting. "We've seen it increasing steadily, but it hasn't been huge," Janet Pogue McLaurin, global director of workplace research at the architecture and design firm Gensler, told Newsweek. Across the workforce, office attendance has been tied to performance reviews and bonuses, while law firms, financial services firms and the tech industry have been announcing attendance mandates. The federal government is also implementing an expansive return-to-office mandate. While it may seem that the remote era is over—the Flex Index reports that office policy changes to "full time in office" increased from 13 percent to 24 percent in the Fortune 500—the reality is a new normal has set in, and flexibility is still on the rise. The segment of companies identifying as hybrid has grown to 43 percent of Fortune 500 firms, while 24 percent are fully remote or allow employees to choose. "I often hear 'Work from home is over' or 'Everyone is returning to the office': That's not true," Nick Bloom, a Stanford economist who rose into prominence in part due to his studies on remote work well before the COVID-19 pandemic, wrote on LinkedIn. "The data shows *The Return to Office* is Over." He cites office cost savings and ease in recruiting and retention among the value drivers for businesses to keep operating in a more flexible manner. So, people are coming back to the office, but the rise has been slow, and a lot has changed, including what the offices look like and what people are doing there. Leading organizations are getting better at using the office as a place for collaboration and activities, while maintaining flexible attendance policies. Getty Images "Employers are investing in 'special events' (e.g., external speakers, cooking demonstrations, etc.) to incentivize returning to the office, with a need for suitable spaces to support these events; 43% of employers have these in place," a paper by the commercial real estate firm JLL reported in February. Many companies are reconfiguring their locations and spaces. The fact that attendance is rising does not change employees' interest in flexibility and autonomy. "Our work days vary tremendously," McLaurin said. "When we think about what employees really want, [it's] access to spaces and the agency to create their ideal work experience." As companies leverage their office space to play a role in recruiting, retention and productivity, they may be encouraged by the finding from Gensler that on a holistic level, the office needs of employees do not have significant variance across generations. "We found that there was very little variance in the ideal work experience that people wanted. It was pretty much all the same at all ages, which is really surprising," she said. "We did not see that the young generation really wants something uniquely different than what everybody wants." Different Places and Spaces In the 2019 version of the office, the majority of the space was for cubicles or desks; perhaps some senior leaders occupied offices, and McLaurin noted that the only other type of space was typically conference rooms of various sizes. Today, a new mix of spaces occupy offices, including cafés, collaboration hubs and tech-equipped conference rooms, along with an emphasis on using outdoor space. A recent study from Gensler found that beyond desks and meeting rooms, workers prioritize the following amenities most: café or food hall, coworking area, lounges and nap rooms. "It used to be that we considered those amenities," McLaurin said. "They were the additive cherry-on-the-top kind of spaces. But now we see that amenities are no longer optional. They're really an important component of creating a great workplace experience." A company's office presence, including the buildings and different cities they are located in, has always had an importance to company strategy. Typically, offices are opened to be accessible for clients, suppliers and employees, and, for a long time, companies have thought about how to equip their headquarters with amenities to keep employees happy, such as the watercooler, snacks or a gym. JLL's authors also noted that "the number of organizations reporting that they have a dedicated community or workplace experience manager on-site has risen from 23 percent to 35 percent in the past year." For companies looking to promote productivity in the workspace, Gensler identified seven main ways of working in the office and then mapped out which office amenities or features contributed best to that type of work. The seven ways of working in the office, according to Gensler. The seven ways of working in the office, according to Gensler. Gensler How different office spaces contribute to the seven modes of office work. How different office spaces contribute to the seven modes of office work. Gensler The researchers then identified which positive impacts can be credited to the office environment, finding the strongest ties were to company brand and identity, enabling people to do their best work, making people feel valued and excited to work for the company, inspiring new thinking and attracting and retaining talent. Employees also care about the environment surrounding the office, which may explain why some companies, like IBM and Marriott, have opened urban, public transport-accessible offices in vibrant neighborhoods, after spending decades in sprawling suburban campuses. The value that employees place on the office is around identity, inspiration and talent retention. The value that employees place on the office is around identity, inspiration and talent retention. Gensler "When we're working with clients, we hear two things," McLaurin said. "One is, Where is that talent and where does that talent want to be located? The other is, Where's our client and customer, and how do we stay close to that client and customer?" Those companies mentioned a desire to attract employees to that shiny new office with the help of the neighborhood—replete with walkable options for lunch, a coffee or maybe getting an errand done—as part of the attraction. "All those spaces play an important role," McLaurin said. "We have seen outside of coffee shops and restaurants, outdoor spaces is number three [among employee interests]. Right after it is medical help, then grocery store, shopping, retail and pharmacy. ... So location matters as well as the type of building that you're located in."
Time Magazine
29-05-2025
- Business
- Time Magazine
The return-to-office reality gap
By Fortune 500 companies are leading a significant shift in workplace policies, with full-time office mandates nearly doubling from 13% to 24% since Q4 2024, according to the latest Flex Index data. But a critical gap has emerged that's impossible to ignore: these increasingly rigid policies are colliding with stubborn workplace realities. The most revealing finding? While policy requirements for office attendance have jumped 10% since early 2024, actual attendance has barely moved, increasing less than 2% during the same period based on data collected by Stanford Professor Nick Bloom and his team. This growing compliance gap signals something fundamental: employees are quietly rejecting mandates they find disconnected from both their needs and their demonstrated productivity. The conventional narrative that American workplaces are abandoning flexibility doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Overall, 67% of US companies still maintain flexible work arrangements, with structured-hybrid models (for example, three-day-a-week policies) dominating at 43% of firms. While larger companies push for more office days, the vast majority of organizations with fewer than 500 employees (70%) remain fully flexible (no requirements for people to be in offices.) Even in companies with the strictest policies, reality proves stubborn. According to Occuspace CEO Nic Halverson, whose workplace occupancy sensor technology is deployed across Fortune 500 companies, many firms mandating five days in office see almost the same rate of utilization as those with more flexible policies. Even organizations threatening termination for non-compliance haven't moved the needle significantly. Why does this gap persist? Three key factors: The underlying math is flawed. Pre-pandemic office utilization already averaged around 50-60% due to vacations, business travel, sick days—and employees who already had a flexible setup. Firms who set three-day in-office policies in the past few years typically see 1.5 to two days of actual attendance, which isn't an outlier given the broader historical context. Compliance isn't performance. Managers facing pressure to 'do more with less' are unlikely to terminate high-performing employees whose only shortcoming is imperfect attendance. While non-compliance might occasionally facilitate the removal of underperformers, the persistent attendance gap suggests this remains rare. The silent agreement between managers and their best talent is evident: results matter more than physical presence. Mandates exclude critical talent pools. Five-day in-office requirements disproportionately impact significant segments of the workforce. Women, regardless of caregiving situations, prefer more flexibility and are three times more likely to leave under rigid return-to-office (RTO) mandates. Neurodivergent employees who thrived with fewer sensory challenges at home face renewed barriers. For workers with disabilities, the flexibility revolution had finally created more accessible employment opportunities—which mandates now threaten to reverse. Executives now face a consequential choice: double down on attendance policies they know put them at odds with their workforce and place their managers in untenable positions, or invest in systems that make flexible work truly effective. The most successful organizations are choosing the latter path, developing regular purposeful gatherings for distributed teams and implementing robust outcomes-based management frameworks that focus on results rather than visibility. The irony shouldn't be lost on anyone: many of the same leaders imposing rigid, top-down RTO mandates are simultaneously urging their teams to embrace generative AI and other transformative technologies. These contradictory approaches—command-and-control rigidity for workplace presence versus innovation and adaptation for technology adoption—create organizational whiplash. There are only so many 'sticks' leaders can wield before something breaks, usually in the form of disengagement, quiet quitting, or outright departures of valuable talent. The most effective leaders recognize that trust and flexibility aren't just employee perks, they're essential ingredients for navigating the multiple transformations reshaping today's workplace.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Andy Jassy Pushes For Start-Up Mindset At Amazon: 'When You Get Larger...You Can Get Slowed Down'
Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy reinforced his mission to return the e-commerce giant to its startup roots during remarks at the Harvard Business Review Leadership Summit on Monday, emphasizing improved collaboration from the company's return-to-office mandate and streamlined management. What Happened: Jassy, who succeeded Jeff Bezos as CEO in 2021, brings nearly three decades of Amazon experience, including his pivotal role in building Amazon Web Services (AWS) from a small team to a $40 billion business. His leadership has been marked by structural changes aimed at streamlining operations, such as increasing the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% — a target Amazon achieved in Q1 2025, Observer reported. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — this is your last chance to become an investor for $0.80 per share. Donald Trump just announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure deal — here's how you can invest in the entertainment market's next big disruptor at $2.25 per share. 'When you get larger, there are all sorts of ways—natural ways—that you can get slowed down,' said Jassy, who joined Amazon in 1997 shortly after its IPO. He recalled AWS's early days when 'our storage service started with 13 people, our compute service had 11 people.' Why It Matters: A cornerstone of Jassy's strategy is Amazon's return-to-office (RTO) mandate, implemented in January. Jassy argues that in-person collaboration boosts productivity and innovation, stating, "People riff on top of each other's ideas better if they're together." However, this policy has sparked significant internal resistance, with nearly half of the affected employees considering leaving and 87% believing productivity may decline, according to Flex Index. These operational changes support Jassy's broader AI strategy outlined in his recent shareholder letter, where he described AI as 'a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of everything we know.' The company has achieved its goal of increasing the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% in Q1 2025 while establishing a 'bureaucracy tipline' for employees to report unnecessary processes. With $100 billion in planned capital expenditures for 2025, Amazon is positioning for what Jassy calls a 'generational opportunity' in AI. Amazon will report first-quarter earnings on May Next: Invest Where It Hurts — And Help Millions Heal: Invest in Cytonics and help disrupt a $390B Big Pharma stronghold. Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Many are rushing to grab 4,000 of its pre-IPO shares for just $0.26/share! Image Via Shutterstock Send To MSN: Send to MSN Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Andy Jassy Pushes For Start-Up Mindset At Amazon: 'When You Get Can Get Slowed Down' originally appeared on
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Andy Jassy Pushes For Start-Up Mindset At Amazon: 'When You Get Larger...You Can Get Slowed Down'
Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy reinforced his mission to return the e-commerce giant to its startup roots during remarks at the Harvard Business Review Leadership Summit on Monday, emphasizing improved collaboration from the company's return-to-office mandate and streamlined management. What Happened: Jassy, who succeeded Jeff Bezos as CEO in 2021, brings nearly three decades of Amazon experience, including his pivotal role in building Amazon Web Services (AWS) from a small team to a $40 billion business. His leadership has been marked by structural changes aimed at streamlining operations, such as increasing the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% — a target Amazon achieved in Q1 2025, Observer reported. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — this is your last chance to become an investor for $0.80 per share. Donald Trump just announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure deal — here's how you can invest in the entertainment market's next big disruptor at $2.25 per share. 'When you get larger, there are all sorts of ways—natural ways—that you can get slowed down,' said Jassy, who joined Amazon in 1997 shortly after its IPO. He recalled AWS's early days when 'our storage service started with 13 people, our compute service had 11 people.' Why It Matters: A cornerstone of Jassy's strategy is Amazon's return-to-office (RTO) mandate, implemented in January. Jassy argues that in-person collaboration boosts productivity and innovation, stating, "People riff on top of each other's ideas better if they're together." However, this policy has sparked significant internal resistance, with nearly half of the affected employees considering leaving and 87% believing productivity may decline, according to Flex Index. These operational changes support Jassy's broader AI strategy outlined in his recent shareholder letter, where he described AI as 'a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of everything we know.' The company has achieved its goal of increasing the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% in Q1 2025 while establishing a 'bureaucracy tipline' for employees to report unnecessary processes. With $100 billion in planned capital expenditures for 2025, Amazon is positioning for what Jassy calls a 'generational opportunity' in AI. Amazon will report first-quarter earnings on May Next: Invest Where It Hurts — And Help Millions Heal: Invest in Cytonics and help disrupt a $390B Big Pharma stronghold. Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Many are rushing to grab 4,000 of its pre-IPO shares for just $0.26/share! Image Via Shutterstock Send To MSN: Send to MSN Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Andy Jassy Pushes For Start-Up Mindset At Amazon: 'When You Get Can Get Slowed Down' originally appeared on
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US workers with remote-friendly jobs are still working from home nearly half the time, 5 years after the pandemic began
Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted office life, American workplaces are settling into a new rhythm. Employees in remote-friendly jobs now spend an average of 2.3 days each week working from home, a research team that tracks remote employment has found. And when you look at all workers – and not just those in remote-friendly positions – they're working remotely 1.4 days a week, or 28% of the time. That's a huge change from 2019, when remote work accounted for only 7% of the nation's paid workdays, even if it's down from the height of the pandemic in 2020, when 61.5% of all work was remote. And it's a giant leap from 1965, the dawn of telework. At that time, fewer than 0.5% of all paid workdays were out of the office, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As management professors who study remote work and collaboration, we've learned a lot about remote work's challenges and its often underappreciated advantages. In analyzing the latest data, we've observed that employers and employees are still trying to strike the balance between working from home and at the office. That's why employers' requirements for in-person work don't always align with their employees' preferences. Employers swiftly made the jump to remote work in 2020. Zoom, along with other previously unfamiliar collaboration software companies, became commonplace overnight. Five years later, many employers, including JPMorgan, TikTok, Amazon and the federal government, are rejecting remote work, demanding that employees return to the office full time. But these examples are not the norm. According to Flex Index, which tracks the workplace strategies of over 10,000 U.S. companies quarterly, fully in-office work is on the decline. At the start of 2023, 49% of employers insisted that their staff report to the office daily. That percentage fell to 32% at the end of 2024. Companies are also retreating from remote-only work. While 31% of employers were fully remote in 2023, only 25% had remained fully remote at the end of 2024. Instead, companies are increasingly turning to hybrid arrangements, in which employees spend a part of their week at the office. About 20% of professional workplaces were hybrid at the start of 2023. Just two years later, hybrid's share had risen to 43%. The story of remote work is more complicated than general trends indicate. Its prevalence varies widely by industry, location and employer size. The technology, insurance, telecommunications, professional services, and media and entertainment industries are among the biggest adopters of long-term remote and hybrid arrangements. The states where remote and hybrid work are the most popular are Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and California. The states where it's the least popular are Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, Nebraska and Alaska. In part, some of these regional differences are due to where remote-friendly industries like technology and insurance are concentrated. Businesses with 500 or fewer employees are the most likely to embrace remote work. Staying connected and coordinating with your colleagues is easiest with smaller teams, we've observed. Midsize employers, with 500 to 25,000 employees, are equally split across fully in-office, remote and hybrid strategies. Very large employers, which have 25,000 employees or more, are the most likely to adopt hybrid work. These patterns show that remote work tends to be more popular among small employers, and in remote-friendly industries and states, whereas hybrid work has found a home in large companies. The remote work story is complicated also because employees have developed different preferences for in-office work, hybrid work and remote work over the course of the pandemic and since it subsided. In 2024, roughly 25% of professional employees preferred office work, 35% preferred remote work, and 40% preferred hybrid work, according to research by Zoom. Even recent college graduates express a range of preferences: 15% prefer to work at an office, 20% prefer remote work, and 65% would rather have a hybrid schedule. However, the ideal balance of office and remote work remains a point of contention. While employees favor three days at home and two in the office, employers prefer the opposite: three days in the office and two working remotely, the Zoom survey found. Generally, the future of work looks hybrid. But the remote work of the lockdown days – what's now known as 'fully remote' – is also here to stay. This is good news for those who prefer fully remote work. These employees are often parents or are caring for adults in need of assistance. They may live in rural communities or reside too far from their offices to regularly commute. Many LGBTQ+ employees and people of color have expressed a preference for remote work as a way to limit the microaggressions they experience on the job. On the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown, there's no one-size-fits-all workplace. And we believe that's a good thing. The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
