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A meager 4% of CEOs in the U.S. will prioritize a full return-to-office mandate for employees according to the C-Suite Outlook 2024 study from The Conference Board.
The study surveyed over 1,200 executives across the U.S., Latin America, Japan, and Europe, including over half of whom were CEOs. The figure for Global C-Suite leaders also sits at 4%.
This latest report is perhaps proof that organizations are finally loosening the chains on a push to get employees back into the office five days a week. The majority of C-Suite leaders, it seems, will instead opt for fully remote or flexible working models, and let the flexible work debate quietly fade away into the long list of obsolete HR obsessions.
C-Suite executives will instead focus on issues such as the recession and inflation, which rank as the top two concerns for 2024. Only 37% of U.S. CEOs say they are prepared to deal with a recession, and just 34% for high inflation.
With other major priorities on the table, can we finally end the return-to-office (RTO) debate and focus on more pressing issues?
Is the RTO debate finally over?
The past few have been a tug-of-war between flexible working and RTO mandates; disgruntled employees and frustrated leadership.
In April 2023, JP Morgan shared a memo directing all managing directors to return to the office five days a week. In August 2022, Apple mandated employees to return-to-office three days a week. Employees responded with a petition demanding more flexibility. Amazon and Meta enforced similar three-day-a-week in-office policies in 2023.
UPS began 2024 by asking all corporate employees back to the office full-time. Boeing employees, amidst their door blowout PR disaster, began working in-office five-days-a-week from January 1st 2024.
From a lack of flexibility to limited opportunities for feedback, employees are fed up. In truth, most HR leaders are fed up too.
This survey is an indication that the debate may be fizzling out.
“CEOs are perhaps conceding that they need to let this issue go,” said Diana Scott, US Human Capital Center Leader, the Conference Board, speaking to CNN. “There are so many other issues they need to deal with.”
This isn’t to say that any organization mandating employees back to the office is necessarily wrong. Certainly, within the 4%, there will be no doubt be companies that need more consistent in-office conversation; that have employees desperate for more social interaction in face time with their colleagues; or even mounting real estate costs that they simply can’t afford to waste.
But, organizations have had more than enough time to figure out what makes sense for their workforce.
If a C-Suite team is still unclear on exactly how much time they need their employees to spend in the office, or how each employee feels about their time in the office, there are bigger fish to fry. Namely, major gaps in employee listening, people analytics, and workforce planning.
Employees must be a part of the decision-making process and have transparency in any decisions being made. Employee data must also be a part of the decision-making process to understand how each employee works best. And on the whole, blanket mandates alienate and disengage employees.
Hybrid is the new status-quo
Let’s hope this news is a welcome sign that employers have finally settled on their approach to the return-to-office, whatever form it takes.
The majority of organizations, including Walt Disney, FedEx, IBM, Dell Technologies, and countless others have all settled on hybrid working, which, in some shape or form, seems to be the new standard.
Of course there will be outliers, but provided each company has made the right decision for their workforce, there should be no need for any further debate.
So, rather than letting us know your opinions on the return-to-office debate, what are your major priorities for 2024?
