Working from home? You might be ordered back to the office soon

Here’s something I never thought I’d say, let alone commit to metaphorical paper: I quite enjoy going into the office. I like wearing cute outfits (Corpcore! Office Siren!), catching up with my colleagues, and generally feeling purposeful click-clacking across London like an extra in the opening scene of The Devil Wears Prada.

Of course, a large part of this enjoyment comes from the fact that I only have to do it a few times a week. Pulling together a workwear wardrobe is fun when it’s novel, as most things are. However, the bulk of my actual work gets done at home where I can bunker down in leggings and an old jumper and just write—as I am now.

I am infinitely more productive working at home away from the noise and distraction of a large open-plan office. I also start earlier, finish later, and rarely take a proper lunch break. I’m not endorsing overworking as a justification for remote working, but I think it’s worth highlighting that statistically, we are a nation of grafters. Research from Somebody Digital shows that 56% of surveyed digital workers admit to checking their emails within 10 minutes of waking up (guilty) and 70% work beyond their contracted hours (also guilty). Yet we’re repeatedly fed the idea that working outside of an office is “not doing proper work”, as the former boss of Marks and Spencer and Asda, Lord Rose, recently told BBC Panorama.

Despite the extra hours and output, I also get to exercise and catch up on life admin as well as save money on lunches and commuting, and, you know, see some natural light. These aren’t things my employer likely cares about, but I bet my colleagues do.

So it’s a good job that we don’t work at JP Morgan, who earlier this year demanded all 300,000 (including 22,000 in the UK) of its employees return to the office for five days a week from March. Soon after, advertising agency WPP ordered its 110,000 staff back to the office at least four days a week (including two Fridays per month) in what has been described as “a fresh crackdown on working from home”.

The tech overlords at Amazon, Google, Meta and Apple have followed suit.

It’s not just big corporations either: LinkedIn platform data shows that hybrid job postings in the UK are declining: 39.8% of UK job postings in November 2024 were hybrid, but this has dropped 12.3% YoY. Global trends also suggest a gradual shift back toward in-office roles. Hybrid roles are down 9.8% in the States—which sets the global standard for many company policies—and 10.2% and 9.7% in Germany and France respectively.

However, employees aren’t necessarily following suit. “While many companies are reintroducing in-office expectations, application trends make it clear: employees still want flexibility,” confirms Janine Chamberlin, Head of LinkedIn UK.

Fiona Wylie, CEO and Founder of Brand Champions is one such employee. She left a senior leadership position at a well-known FMCG company to set up her own agency after realising that the working world isn't created for working mothers. “I spoke to a recruiter who told me I had to make a choice between a senior marketing career or being a Mum.”

Wylie’s experience is far from isolated: a UN report revealed that one in four mothers are forced out of the workforce and in the UK, roughly a quarter of a million mothers are impacted by the ‘Motherhood Penalty’, forcing 26% to drop their hours to accommodate caretaking responsibilities and 25% to unwillingly leave the workforce entirely. Hybrid working doesn’t directly tackle this, but it does allow for some much-needed flexibility. “If we really want to accommodate, and not just ‘say the right thing’, we have to design offices with women in mind, remove any stigma around flexible working, and cultivate a culture that gets out of the way of women”, says Wylie.

Having the flexibility to manage your hours doesn’t just impact women and mothers, it benefits everyone. Even if you don’t take advantage of flexible working policies, we all benefit from a culture that recognises the differing needs of the workforce. At a time when Diversity and Inclusion policies are being widely scrapped, it’s more important than ever to champion flexible policies which are, for some, a bonus, but for others, a lifeline.

“Even before the pandemic, the lack of flexibility in workplaces meant a lot of disabled people were shut out of jobs,” explains Dr Shani Dhanda, an inclusion and accessibility specialist and broadcaster. Although Dhanda welcomes flexible working policies, she bristles at how the pandemic made remote working happen overnight despite disabled workers campaigning for decades for hybrid roles. “Now, with return-to-office mandates, the little flexibility we gained is being taken away again,” says Dhanda, adding: “And let’s be clear—disabled people aren’t some tiny minority. We’re one of the biggest marginalised groups, and anyone can become disabled at any time. If workplaces care about inclusion, they must stop treating accessibility like an optional perk.”

So why are companies so wedded to the idea of offices? “There are many advantages to bringing teams together—you can’t beat in-person collaboration, and the huge benefit to junior staff of ‘learning by osmosis’”, says Chamberlin, but she’s quick to point out the importance of offering a degree of flexibility. “For many, hybrid working allows leaders to build a strong company culture and ensure teams are inspired and motivated while allowing them the flexibility to get their work done how and when they need to”.

Wylie takes a dimmer view: “We’re seeing an alarming rise in regression not progression across many industries.” Studies show that productivity levels are the same for hybrid workers as full-time in-office employees.

I’m fortunate that I don’t face the barriers that many workers do, I also consider myself quite extroverted, but even still, being in an office and being ‘on’ all day, not to mention the commuting, takes its toll. New research by The Work Foundation shows that 85% of disabled workers in the UK say they are more productive working from home while a survey of hundreds of disabled workers across the UK reveals that 70% believe not being allowed to work remotely would negatively impact their health.

“Remote work allows people to manage their health better—taking breaks when needed, avoiding flare-ups, and being productive without sacrificing well-being,” says Dhanda. She’s speaking on behalf of disabled workers, but the sentiment is true for everyone.

Forcing people back full-time without considering the differing realities workers face—whether that’s inaccessible public transport or chronic pain that makes travelling exhausting, childcare or caretaking responsibilities, or any of the myriad reasons why full-time office work might negatively impact people—makes work less accessible for everyone.

Hybrid working isn’t the answer to the gender pay gap, stagnating wages, or the exorbitant cost of childcare and it’s certainly not the solution to a lack of inaccessible public spaces. What it is is a much-needed and long-awaited move towards prioritising employees and their differing needs.

Offices just don’t work for everyone.