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“Flexible working is the new norm.”
Or so we were told at the time. And back in 2019 IWG's Global Workspace Survey, polled over 15,000 business professionals across 80 countries and backed the claim. And this was a year before the pandemic changed everything.
According to the report, 75% of workers considered flexible working to be “the new normal,” and over four in five said they’d turn down a job that didn’t offer it. At the time, the appetite for change was so strong that the regular 9-to-5 was being described in the report as “about as relevant as a fax machine.”
Some 85% of respondents reported that their company was more productive due to flexible working, making a clear business case for it. Further, 77% believed it helped attract and retain talent. Even sectors rooted in the physical space like manufacturing and retail embraced elements of flexibility. By 2019, 62% of firms had already adopted flexible workspace policies.
“The bell has tolled for the regular fixed-office 9-5pm,” IWG declared. And it seemed that business leaders were listening and the direction of travel clear.
And to be clear, flexible working isn’t just about working from home, it’s about a degree of autonomy, particularly around childcare, retirement plans, diversity, benefit packages and healthcare among other things.
Mixed signals in 2025
Fast forward to 2025 and the tone is a little more ambivalent. Mercer’s Health on Demand 2025 report paints a somewhat mixed picture. While workers still prize autonomy in how and where they work, employers increasingly don't, with only a third of HR leaders globally now ranking flexible working as a priority.
That shift in sentiment stands in contrast to the ongoing preferences of employees.
According to Mercer, “flexibility wins on value to workers.” Benefits such as alternative work schedules, flexible retirement options, and hybrid or remote work are consistently ranked among the most valued interventions by employees of all generations.
Such enthusiasm isn’t just wishful thinking. Mercer found that 69% of hybrid workers report thriving in their roles, compared to 63% of on-site staff and just 58% of fully remote workers. Employees still view flexibility as a path to better well-being and performance.
Among the many positives, flexibility can also help families manage costs more effectively by allowing employees to live in more affordable areas, commute at less expensive times and reduce their reliance on childcare, says the report.
The risk of a return-to-office backlash
While workers continue to make a strong case for flexibility across a number of benefits, companies appear to be pulling back. Mercer’s findings show that “many large organizations [are] mandating workplace returns as they seek to normalize business operations following the pandemic.”
The retreat may be premature. IWG’s survey showed that 70% of workers said that choice of work environment was a key factor when evaluating new roles. More than half said they valued location more than a prestigious company name or a bump in vacation days. Is that likely to have changed over the last six years, with a pandemic also resetting the argument around being in the office full-time?
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Mercer reports that “one in five employees have left a previous job or are job-seeking due to family caretaking or illness.”
In other words, the demand for autonomy hasn’t vanished, but employer willingness to meet that demand may have.
Flexible working also plays a role in improving diversity and retention. IWG stated that it helped bring more older workers, caregivers and people with mental health challenges into the workforce. Mercer echoes this, noting that Boomers remain highly engaged and loyal, especially when offered flexible retirement pathways. Yet only 23% of employers offer such options.
With an aging population and increasing pressure to retain talent, the stakes of getting flexibility right are rising. And while financial constraints may tempt some employers to trim flexibility in favor of structure and attempts to improve performance, Mercer’s report warns of the risk.
“Flexible working policies are not only highly-valued by employees but they may also help employees thrive.”
The strategic gap
In 2019, IWG concluded: “The evidence is stacking up that modern businesses simply must embrace a flexible working culture on at least some level in order to stay competitive.”
But now, in 2025, Mercer suggests many are falling short.
Employees haven’t lost interest in autonomy, far from it. But employers may be moving on, despite all signs pointing to continued high demand.
“Flexible schedules, including a compressed workweek ... are helpful to me or my family”, said 49% of employees in Mercer’s 2025 study. But only 32% said their employer actually offered them.
It’s a disconnect that may well prove costly.
