These major companies want workers back in the office
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
The push and pull between remote, hybrid and office work has persisted since companies started to call their staff back in person.
Why it matters: Corporate employees and employers across industries have been in conflict over what style results in the most productive work, while allowing balance.
By the numbers: 32% of U.S. firms require full time in office for corporate employees, per the Flex Index Q4 report, which analyzes the state of flexible work.
- Over the past two quarters, the percentage of companies requiring three days per week in office increased to 28% from 19%.
Zoom in: Office foot traffic differs widely between cities.
- As of July, Miami and New York office visits were over or close to 90% of July 2019 levels, while San Francisco barely breached 50%.
Here are corporate RTO mandates across industries:
Tech and software
Amazon: Employees are mandated to return five days per week at the start of 2025, CEO Andy Jassy announced in September.
- Employees with an "extenuating circumstance" or with specific exceptions may continue to work remote or hybrid.
Apple: CEO Tim Cook ordered employees to start returning to the office three days a week in 2022.
AT&T: The company announced in December announced a policy that will require employees to work from the office five days per week starting in January, multiple outlets reported.
- Its operations have already been streamlined to nine core office hubs, per HR Grapevine, including Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, St. Louis, and New Jersey's Middletown and Bedminster.
Dell: The tech company told staff with just a few days' notice in September to return to the office five days per week, per Business Insider.
Google: Many employees ignored the company's request to work in-person three days per week in 2023, Axios' Emily Peck previously reported.
- Office attendance would be considered in performance reviews, chief people officer Fiona Cicconi told staff.
IBM: The company told managers they needed to either be on site three days per week or leave their jobs, per CNBC.
Meta: The Facebook and Instagram parent company ordered workers to return to the office three days per week in 2023.
Salesforce: Many employees returned for four days per week in October, per NBC.
Snap: Snapchat's parent company told employees they had 60 days to return to the office or leave the company, The Information reported.
X: Elon Musk in 2022 announced the end of remote work for the social media company after he acquired it. It became the first company in tech to force RTO, per Business Insider.
- CEO Linda Yaccarino attempted to motivate workers with incentives.
Zoom: The bastion of remote work ordered staff back to the office in 2023 for a "structured hybrid approach," per the BBC.
- Any employee living within 50 miles of an office was expected to work in person at least twice a week.
Finance
BlackRock: The world's largest asset manager called employees back to office at least four days per week in 2023.
Citigroup: The banking and trade company asked its 600 U.S. employees who were eligible to work remotely to return to the office full time in May, per Reuters.
Goldman Sachs: The company early on had a hard time enforcing its five-day RTO policy, per Business Insider. Leaders said they'd further crack down on attendance.
JPMorgan: In 2023, the company asked its managing directors to work from the office five days per week, per Reuters.
- The company said managers could include attendance in performance reviews and threatened "corrective action" for not meeting requirements.
Media and entertainment
Disney: CEO Bob Iger ordered a four-day work week in 2023 after retaking his job at the helm of the company.
Washington Post: The news outlet announced in November that all employees were expected back five days per week by June.
- Managers must be in full time by Feb. 3.
Transportation
Boeing: The aerospace company called all workers back to the office five days per week in early 2024, per CNBC.
Tesla: Musk in 2022 said that employees must work from the office at least 40 hours per week.
- "If you don't show up, we'll assume you have resigned," he wrote in an email, per Business Insider.
What we're watching: The workplace conversation is set to continue into 2025.
- 86% of CEOs said they will reward employees who come into the office, per a survey conducted by accounting and audit firm KPMG over the summer. 79% said they believe corporate employees will work in person over the next three years.
- Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will lead the Trump administration's new Department of Government Efficiency, said they support requiring federal employees to work in-person five days per week.
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