In-person work doubled over the past year, survey finds
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The office is back: The share of people who reported working mostly in-person doubled in 2024 from the previous year, according to a survey from McKinsey released Friday morning.
Why it matters: With hiring slowing, and workers feeling stuck, employers are using their newly strengthened upper hand to finally get what they want: butts in seats.
Where it stands: "There is a perception among senior leaders that productivity is better accomplished in office," says Brooke Weddle, a senior partner at McKinsey. (Research paints a more complicated picture.)
- Executives are keen to return to office (RTO), Weddle says, noting that in one recent 24-hour period she heard from three different leaders at three companies about it.
The big picture: This survey of 8,426 employees across 15 industries was conducted last October; the RTO push has only intensified since then.
- On President Trump's first day in office he ordered federal employees back to in-person work.
- Earlier this week, Trump said: "I don't think you can work from home." People who work remotely "they're gonna play tennis. they're gonna play golf.... they're not working."
- On Thursday, the White House reportedly carved out an exception in its in-office policy — allowing federal employees with spouses who work for the military to continue to work remotely.
Context: When Amazon called workers back last September, the company opened the RTO floodgates, several observers tell Axios. "That turned a wave," says Weddle.
The intrigue: At a lot of workplaces, there's still not enough room for everyone. Amazon is still struggling to fit all its employees into available space, WSJ reports.
Reality check: We aren't all the way back to pre-2020 levels. Even with more RTO mandates there tends to be "wiggle room," says Weddle. "Most policies have some kind of flexibility built-in."
- For that reason, instead of asking if people were in-office or remote, McKinsey asked if people were "mostly" in-person or remote.
- Other recent studies reflect that asterisk. Average office occupancy on Fridays is just 36.7% of pre-pandemic levels, compared to around 63% on Tuesday, per recent data from Kastle.
