Back to the Office Movement Gaining Momentum

Almost eight of ten corporate CEOs say work from home is no longer viable as they see in-office levels returning to pre-pandemic levels.

During the worst of the pandemic the work-from-home movement exploded and even as conditions have improved many thought it would become a permanent feature of the workplace. But that’s not happening and in fact a new survey says in-office labor forces will return to pre-pandemic levels within the next three years.

KPMG, the big consulting firm, found that 79 percent of American corporate CEOs predict that workforces will be returning back to their pre-pandemic in-office levels within the next three years. KPMG says this compares with only 34 percent believing this to be true just a few short months ago. And it stands against the current situation where 53 percent of Americans work from home at least some of the time.

Amazon’s announcement in late September that it would require its employees to return to its offices full-time was only the most high-profile example of a trend rapidly overtaking the American workforce.

The CEOs surveyed seemed to be influenced by the softening in the labor market and big companies, like Amazon, taking the lead on the return-to-office movement after previously being more flexible. Close to nine out of ten – 86 percent – said “they would reward in-office employees with plum assignments, raises and promotions”, according to an Inc. magazine report on the survey. “That suggests they intend to withhold those same things from employees who choose to work from home” and may be willing to let them go if they decide to not go back to in-office work. For the building trade, at-home work was never an option for many occupations but for those where it was, it’s likely to be a disappearing factor in the next few years.

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