Companies have been cracking down on their return-to-office mandates this fall, with the majority of employers, including the likes of Meta and Zoom, requiring workers to come in three days a week—in the short term, at least.
Now, however, most bosses are planning on ditching those happy medium hybrid policies once the dust settles, according to new research.
In fact, 63% of CEOs predict a full return to in-office working by the end of 2026, according to KPMG’s Global CEO Outlook, which surveyed 1,300 global chief executives. Meanwhile, just 7% think that fully remote working will be the norm in the long term.
Steadfast in returning to the pre-pandemic way of working, the CEOs surveyed even admitted they’re up for sweetening the deal by making the added cost of commuting and buying packed lunch worth worker’s while.
Nearly 90% of the CEOs polled suggested that those who go in more will be rewarded with salary raises, promotions, and even favorable assignments.
“Carrots rather than sticks are the best tools for this job,” KPMG U.K. chief Jon Holt wrote about his company’s findings in theTimes (U.K.).
Workers are unlikely to react well to a full-time return
During the Great Resignation, employers had little choice but to grant their staff flexibility—or risk losing their best talent. But now, with the job market cooling and the looming threat of layoffs, the power balance is seemingly starting to swing back into the hands of bosses.
However, even Holt acknowledged that “ordering everyone back to their desks is unlikely to sit well with workers used to hybrid”.
He’s not wrong: A recent Gallup study found that 90% of office workers don’t want to return to the old ways of working—and they’re willing to quit should employers even mention removing flexible working measures in the long term.
Although bosses want a full-time return, a compromise may be wise. As Holt says, workers are likely to react better to carrots than sticks—and that that might mean “embracing a hybrid model”.
“Some sort of hybrid working is likely to remain a useful way to attract and retain the good people bosses know their business needs,” he added.
But bribery won’t go amiss
For those dead set on mandating staff return to the office for five days a week, buttering them up with increased pay to cover their commute might just convince them to play ball.
According to exclusive data from a report from video-conferencing devices company Owl Labs, first provided to Fortune, almost all of workers are willing to make an office return—but they want their bosses to pay up.
Nearly two in five hybrid workers admitted they’d be more likely to go to their office voluntarily if their companies shelled out for their commuting costs.
Overall, company-covered travel was the most desired company perk by a wide margin, followed by free meals and subsidized childcare or eldercare. So employers looking for “carrots” to ease the blow of asking workers to go into the office five days a week should take note.
