Company leaders are repeatedly voicing the need for a full-time return to the office. The newly inaugurated US President also weighed in. On his first day in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating a return to in-person-work five days a week for all federal employees.
At the moment, as per the US Office of Personnel Management, out of 2.3 million federal workers, about half work in-person every day because of the nature of their duties. Those with a hybrid schedule spend about 60% of their paid time in the office, while 228,000 employees, roughly 10% of the total, work permanently from home.
Civil servants who do not comply with the order will be dismissed. This could lead to a downsizing of the federal workforce, in line with the Trump administration’s goal to slash spending.
To save millions of dollars in what Trump considers government waste, Trump also created the Department of Government Efficiency, an agency under the supervision of Elon Musk, who defines working from home a “COVID-era privilege”.
Several leaders in the corporate world share Musk’s view.
“Before the pandemic, it was not a given that folks could work remotely, and that will also be true moving forward,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy reminded employees early last month, after instructing a strict return-to-office policy.
Walmart and AT&T are also trying to reinstate an in-person work routine. JPMorgan Chase’s full-time in-office mandate starts early March. After facing backlash, CEO Jamie Dimon pointed out that face-to-face communication allows for better creativity, engagement and teamwork.
If employees who regularly worked in-person throughout the Covid emergency highlight the level of connection that comes with being in-office, many others are not ready to bid farewell to their current routine. They lament child-care expenses and commute hardships—all for what would be the same amount, and quality, of work. In a study by Pew Research Center, about half of the people currently working a hybrid schedule would be ready to leave their jobs if forced to return to the office permanently. Of those, women and younger workers would rather quit than change their post-pandemic lifestyle.
