Companies Are Dragging People Back to the Office
Employees experienced increased autonomy and productivity with remote work, but companies are now forcing returns to the office. This shift diminishes employee control over their schedules and work environment, leading to resentment and a feeling of being manipulated. The perceived benefits of in-person work are often outweighed by the loss of flexibility and work-life balance.
SOURCES (60)
“SoCal - Accounting I currently work at a company that I love and have been here for 4.5 years. My job is mostly remote, with only one office day per month. I feel like I’m starting to get capped out both financially and professionally, though.…”
“I know the job market sucks right now and employee leverage has been damaged, but I am curious to know what other orgs are doing. If you answer, please mention the State you are in and what you see happening over the next few years on this topic. submitted by /u/richb83 [link] [comments]”
“I’ve been working from home since COVID. I rarely go to the India office (only 3–5 days a year), but I do spend about 2 months each year at my head office in Europe. I’m the only person in my team who is based in India. My family is settled here in an another state, and my kids are used to it. I’ve been with this company for 17 years. Last week, my manager asked me to start going to the office 3 days a week. I explained that no team members are there, and going in doesn’t add any value to my wor”
“I’ve run into the same state restrictions, and it’s so frustrating when Washington is the only change from being 3 hours from HQ in Florida.”
“That 53% stat caught me off guard at first, but honestly it tracks. Between companies pushing hard on office mandates and people just wanting actual work-life balance, the writing's on the wall. Wonder how many of these moves are people strictly holding out for remote roles.”
“I think both sides of the remote work debate sometimes start with the answer instead of the problem. “Everyone needs to come back to the office” isn't a strategy. But neither is “if my individual work is getting done, there can’t possibly be a reason for people to work together in person.” The question I wish more leaders would ask is: what problem are we trying to solve? If collaboration is suffering, show me where. If new employees aren't ramping successfully, let's understand why.”
“I think there are actually two different issues here. A company has every right to decide that certain roles or teams work better in person. I’m a big advocate for remote work, but I also don’t believe every job can or should be remote. Where I think leadership gets this wrong is treating a major change to someone’s working arrangement like a minor policy update. People build their lives around where and how they work. Childcare, transportation, housing, pet care and countless other decisions ar”
“i hate these companies so much. why do they care where we work as long as we’re doing our jobs 😭 i started full remote in 2020 and we’ve been forced to go once a week for the last couple years and they just let us know next year they’re requiring twice a week 💔”
“Hello everyone, I recently accepted a position for an onsite IT support role after 2 years of working fully remote. I’d be moving from an enterprise Helpdesk to supporting an office of about 50 users and will be on a small 3 person team - me being first line of support. Aside from some assumed differences, what can I expect moving from fully remote to onsite? Would love to hear of others experiences regarding challenges faced, improvements in day to day etc. any perspective is appreciated!”
“When is the training supposed to end? I assume this is not indefinite, correct? Is this their solution to hybrid or in-office hours? Yes, it's weird, but I also assume it's temporary. I do think it's okay to be frustrated, but maybe you should give your partner a little grace. It's a rough job market out there. I assume they are not training in your bedroom. You can go in there for privacy to laze around if you so desire. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for our loved ones, a”
“I last worked in an office in 2019. 2020 - office switched to remote work 2021 - laid off, out of work for a year 2022 - new job, fully remote 2023 - fully remote 2024 - fully remote 2025 - laid off in Oct 2026 - start a fully in-office role in 2 weeks What do I need to know? What has changed since I was last in an office? What do people wear now? I'm crashing out lol. I think I forget how to be around people? TIA submitted by /u/BestChickEver [link] [comments]”
“So our executive team forced everyone back into the building for three mandatory days a week starting last month. They sent out this massive corporate memo about in-person culture, spontaneous energy, and organic hallway collaboration. i showed up to the downtown office at 8:30 AM on Tuesday. I paid twenty-two dollars for garage parking, walked up to my assigned bench desk in a giant echoey room, and put on my noise-canceling headset. I then spent the next seven hours staring at my laptop screen”
“Yes, it is a request that can be made as a potential ADA accommodation. However, I will include the disclaimer that of course, how companies SHOULD respond to this are not always how they actually respond, so be prepared for that. You can have your doctor write up an ADA accommodation letter to provide if needed. Honestly, based on how you described the company to be, I'm not going to say they wouldn't be fine with it if everything is already set up to be fully remote as needed, and it&#”
“WFH is not a reasonable accommodation. They don’t give a crap how you get to work, it’s not part of the job.”
“What % increase in total comp would it take for you to go from fully remote → 3 days/week in office ? 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%+? I have two young kids, both in full-time school/childcare. The office would be only 12 minutes from home and 10 minutes from kindergarten , so the commute is very manageable. It’s the same job with a different company, my current company’s leadership and direction is really in the dumps after a reorg. I’m coasting, which sometimes is perfectly fine and other times it feels i”
“Has anyone navigated receiving accommodations at work? I really want to work hybrid (remote 2 days a week) for multiple diagnosed disabilities I have. I am requesting 2 letters, one from PCP and one from my psychiatrist. I have severe mental health issues and chronic pain. I just landed a full time salary job, I started today. However, I have worked here part time for over a year and as a full time intern in the past. So, I really do know how bad on-site is for me. My employer is very strict abo”
“I’ve been remote for 8 years then was laid off and didn’t work for 6 months. I recently took a job that was hybrid but finding out no one in the office likes employees that work from home and complain about them. I was finally able to negotiate 2 days WFH but not sure how long that is going to last. Also there is a strict 8-5 schedule, no flex schedule. The job is lateral with my previous company and I’m seriously thinking about taking a 20k pay cut to work fully remote. It would take me from 95”
“I love my full wall. I don't want to be watched constantly by management or peers. Do your job, it doesn't matter to me if it takes you five minutes or five hours but, if your idle people will say "you have capacity". Fuck that.”
“Definitely cubicles with full walls. Trust me. I just changed companies not because of cubicles but it's a plus lol. My old company moved offices right after taking a WFH day away. We went from full cubicles with semi transparent walls to short cubicles. As a supervisor, it's awful. Need to do a performance review? Better hope there's an available conference room. Someone stops to talk to the person behind you? Now you're being watched. Have a stomach ache today? Anyone can see e”
“I wish I could go back to WFH 100% of the time. The company I work for went from WFH to hybrid (3 days in office and 2 days WFH to 4 days in office and 1 WFH) and now they are pushing for 5 days in office 😭😭 I had converted a room in my upstairs into an office, with a bathroom next door. I would just clock in do my thing from 7:30 am to 4 pm, and then leave that space alone for the rest of the day/weekends. It was perfect and much less distracting that having to deal with coworkers and people”
“Those who went fully remote, what's your thoughts I currently work hybrid 2 days a week in the office in London which is fine, I'm principal data engineer and this gives me some face time with direct reports and the regional ones I influence. But it's at least 6 hours a week commute and £6k train tickets a year. I'm looking at a fully remote role, I wonder whether I'll feel the downsides of that. Are you forgettable as a fully remote? Do you miss office time? It's it hard”
“It's not even just for tax compliance issues, but also operational issues for the employer. Most employers who allow remote work have a requirement that you must live with a certain distance (either by miles or by commuting time) in case you are needed in the office. My employer allows us to work remotely depending on the work you do and office needs, but only from within this state and those states that immediately border it and they must be within 2 hours commute of the work site. They are”
We recently moved from hybrid to full time remote. Some people still go into the office to maintain some balance, if I was a smidge closer I would likely continue to commute…
“I mean my company did what every company should have done during COVID we sold all our office spaces except a small one”
“For a decade? I'm interested what type of job do you work if you don't mind? Most remotes jobs began due to COVID”
“Same. People complain so much about working in office when that’s been the norm for an extremely long time. Remote work really only became a thing because of Covid. Now everyone seems to think they’re absolutely owed remote work. I’d actually not mind working in office with others. Being around people in a working environment was nice. Working at home is nice. Both have pros and cons.”
“Depends. The bad is that forming connections with colleagues will take longer, and handover of responsibilities will require you focus more at the start. Learning has shown to be harder in WfH Vs in-office. The good is there is no commuting and that means you have your own setup, don't spend money on petrol or public transport, can eat at home. Good for families, especially. The work should be the same. Having regular catch-ups with your boss will be more important and you should use them to”
“Could a coworking space day pass one or two days a week could be an option? Keeps you in a professional environment, around a community of other entrepreneurs, but without long term commitment so you still feel that freedom. Some folks do great by themselves, others do better around other humans (I'm in the second camp). As long as you know yourself and lean into what energizes you vs. Depleting energy you'll be better off.”
“My wife was recently a contractor. Now she is W-2 again. She can travel and work in many states where the company has offices for at least six months at a time. We typically travel for a few months every winter so that arrangement works for us.”
“I have a friend who was supposed to move from CO to CA and RTO after a couple months of remote but he was never pushed to do it so just kept working remotely until he moved on. So if you are highly regarded and useful to your company, they may make an exception for you. All you can do is ask (maybe wait until after that exceptional review).”
“It’s worth asking. My company has states categorized into green (easy/already have employees there), yellow (some work but ok), and red (no go). There’s an approval process but if you’re going to a green state it’s pretty much guaranteed to be approved if you’re a remote employee.”
“Early-middle career, got two offers at the same time, both manager roles. Offer A : 128k and In-office 4 days/week 35 min commute, but way better 401k match, plus perks (small monthly stipends, small annual reimbursement account). Much more inspiring company, higher-visibility role, with good work life balance. More PTO and holidays. However, I’m getting a slightly weird vibe about the culture and work life balance. Offer B : 120k and remote, more narrowly scoped role, smaller retirement match,”
“I had a coworker who had been with the company for 10 years, excellent employee, knowledgeable, generous with her knowledge, won awards. He husband got notice he would be stationed in another state. They had youngish children. She went to HR to ask if she could work remotely from the new state, the company already had employees working in that state but not a physical office & her job was not a job that she needed to be in the office for. They told her no & she had a choice to make. Obvi”
“Because when an employer is looking to cut cost, remote workers are always the first ones to go.”
“So I've been working remote since around 2020 and I've worked for a couple companies, but this company I'm at now originally wouldn't support remote work, so I had to leave in 2021. They rehired me in 2023 due to their need for extra engineers as a remote worker from Colorado. I recently moved to Florida, which is where they're headquartered, but I'm still remote as I live over three hours away from the headquarters. My predicament is that now my girlfriend got a job acro”
“I've been working for the same company for the last ~4yrs. I started fully remote, but was unfortunately RTO'd last yr so now I'm driving 1.5-2.5 hrs each way to work depending on traffic 3 days/wk, but may be bumped up to 4-5 days in-office in December. Unfortunately I cannot move and there's no public transit options so I'm stuck with this long commute for now. As a result, I've been looking for new opportunities locally, however there are not many positions in my field”
“The union/non-union detail would weigh more for me than remote vs onsite. Same pay, less protection, and work that is easier to centralize is a real tradeoff, not just a commute upgrade. Before moving, I would ask about layoff history, whether the role is tied to CA patient populations or licensing, productivity metrics, and whether there is any return path. Without a pay bump or clear career upside, staying in the patient-facing union role sounds like the safer play.”
“Hello! I am wondering if anyone works hybrid jobs like 3 days in person/ 2 from home? And what area do you work in? Also- I am wondering how you maximize your salary as an RD? Side hustles? Investing? How do you go about asking for a raise or to be fairly compensated? submitted by /u/Aromatic-Warthog8142 [link] [comments]”
“Hi all, I am in the final stages of being hired for a PT (25 hrs/week) in-office position. I’ve been freelancing for the past 6 years (video editing/social media management) and haven’t worked an in-person job since before Covid. Any advice on returning to work in-person? My main concern is that I will have no benefits or PTO, but obviously will need to take time off occasionally, so I would appreciate advice of how to navigate or ask for that. Also my older kid is mildly autistic and gets very”
“So she went to one of the most uptight companies and that demands the most of their field employees? What’s their remote policy? I’m guessing it’s a 5 day a week corporate office and that’s all that I need to know lol Girl is just loves pain for love of the game.”
“My own toilet and kitchen. The shared work facilities are often gross and smelly”
“Hi - I recently lateraled to a new firm where they have a hybrid 3 days in/2 remote policy. I am a mother to a toddler and working remote, especially when things are busy, makes a world of a difference to my life and productivity. I am the default parent and responsible for breakfast, lunch, etc. I tried to push it informally and work remote more, but was spoken to about it. Including about coming in the full day as I would sometimes only spend a few hours here. I think the flexibility is KEY an”
“Salaried role working between two departments as a remote worker. I flew into town for an all day meeting with a required lunch. Even though other people flew into town the organizer planned an optional dinner near my hotel. It’s a bit weird she did it and I have no interest in attending. I now feel like because she planned dinner near my hotel that it isn’t so “optional”. Yes, it’s at 5 pm but after work I want to recharge alone or at the gym. First time meeting some people after working for th”
“I imagine they have a lease and want bodies in the building? increased productivity - if layout in office is open office I can assure you it's NOT as productive feeling autonomy - I feel more respected with a remote option and not micromanaged”
“Considering switching to 3 day a week in office job. Only issue is the commute is pretty bad (45 minutes one way, 1.5 hours a day). I currently work remotely 5 days a week with a flexible schedule. Pay difference is around 30k but there is a pension for the in office job. The office job probably also has longer hours - probably a strict 40 hours. My current job has a much more flexible PTO time as long as I get my work done. Current investments are around 1.2 million in late 30s and we're cu”
“Is anyone else’s firm becoming more strict regarding in office attendance? I work at a v100, and we are going from a 3-days-a-week requirement (with a min of 3 hours a day in the office) to four days a week with at least eight hours a day in the office. I also heard through the grapevine that there’s actually going to be severe consequences for not complying with this new policy (like eligibility for bonus, among others). Is this a new trend or is my firm isolated in implementing this? sub”
“I published this in the working moms subreddit but I also wanted to ask my fellow pharmacists for your opinion. I might be offered a job with 2 days a week homeoffice/remote and 3 days in office (flexible hours) BUT it’s a 2hr commute one way by train. The other option would be traditional retail pharmacy which in my country I like, but it’s something I’ve done since I graduated and can always get back to. The office role would be project management related and I will try to negotiate half of my”
“High cortisol levels and approaching burn out. Long commute. All of that would be avoided with the remote position. I’m currently in a great department with great coworkers. So that makes it tough too!”
“Hi, I’m a recent grad, 2 years into my first full time position. My team is theoretically hybrid, but really we only come in a couple of times a month and even then not every one on our small 5 person team comes in. I tried going into the office a lot for my first year and eventually gave up because it was a lot of work to just end up alone by myself all day anyway. I’ve found that there’s a lot of normal work stuff that I’m just not learning about by never being around my coworkers. We don’t ha”
“That's hilarious. Similar for me. I actually got myself transferred in a sly way to a smaller office where I do not belong, so that I could live near my girlfriend. I'm a corporate employee but this is more of a field office. I only knew one guy in this office who helped me to get seated here, and he retired like a year ago. So I have a desk, but it's likely being used for storage now, and I don't even know anyone in the building. Literally nobody, not even anyone's name. Wei”
“Hi, guys . I’ve been working remotely/WFH for nearly 4.5 years now since April 2022. Prior to my current job, I worked in retail at Walgreens for 9 years . My remote role is doing telehealth/taking inbound calls from Cigna/express scripts patients nationwide all day long (8 hour shifts) and provide counseling on their meds and general pharmaceutical questions . I’ve enjoyed the role and it’s easy and chill but I’m looking to transition into a different role where I spend less time on the phone t”
“How about now? I'm in a similar situation. Haven't been to the office in over 2 years despite a 2 day a week mandate. And now they're increasing it to 4 days and likely to be more strict with it, so I'm a little worried, but prepared to lose the job.”
“Most of us have been fully remote for the past 4 years, with some people coming in on a hybrid schedule. Zero issues with either setup. A few weeks ago management announced everyone had to come back 5 days a week because they wanted to rebuild company culture. Fine, whatever. Today we got an email saying starting next month the employee parking lot is going to cost $80 a month. They apparently hired an outside company to manage it and employees don't get any kind of discount. There is basica”