More return-to-office mandates? Report looks beyond the headlines

The percentage of companies offering employees a fully flexible work model is decreasing, and the percentage of time expected in the office is increasing.

Even so, and despite headlines highlighting a seeming stream of big companies mandating a full return to the office, the volume of companies requiring employees to work in the office full time continues to hover around one in three.

The movement toward more in-office time is being driven by a continuing trend toward a compromise between fully flexible and fully in office — a structured hybrid model of working.

The Flex Index, which analyzed data from nearly 9,000 U.S. companies for its fourth-quarter report, found that 43% now feature a structured hybrid model that requires some time be spent in the office — up from 38% last quarter and up from 20% when the report debuted in the first quarter of 2023.

That increase helped drop the percentage of companies offering a fully flexible model — in which employees have full control over where they work every day — to 25% this quarter from 29% last quarter. The popularity of a hybrid model also has increased the average days that employees are expected in the office to 2.78 days a week, up from 2.63 days the previous quarter.

As for the news stories regarding return-to-office mandates? Based on the report, those are more isolated occurrences than evidence of a hard trend. Thirty-two percent of companies analyzed this quarter required fully-in-office work, down from 38% a year ago.

Other takeaways from the quarterly report:

• Within the hybrid model, a requirement of three days a week in the office is becoming the norm. Nearly two-thirds of the companies (65%) using the model require three days in the office. Twenty-three percent require two days, while four days (7%) and one day (5%) are less common arrangements.

• Company size makes a big difference. While 70% of companies under 500 employees allow full flexibility, just 14% of companies with 25,000-plus employees do the same.

• By industry, the most flexibility was observed in technology, insurance, and financial services. The least flexibility was observed in food service, education, and hospitality.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.