Remote Work: A Grudging Acceptance by CEOs?

An increasing number of CEOs might have given up on the dream of bringing everyone back to the office.

According to a recent survey, only 34% of CEOs expect workers to be in the office five days a week during the next three years. That’s a precipitous drop from 62% in the same survey last year. “There’s one CEO, there are thousands of employees, and the CEO is getting worn down,” says David Vied, global sector leader in Korn Ferry’s Medical Devices and Diagnostics practice. 

The increasing acceptance of hybrid work comes at a time when many organizations still haven’t perfected these arrangements. Many hybrid managers feel they’re not getting enough training or support from senior leaders. And productivity can be hard to maintain, if scheduling is a consistent challenge. “If executives are still debating hybrid schedules, they’re not able to manage their teams or navigate tough markets,” says Dan Kaplan, a senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s CHRO practice.  

Not long ago, CEOs were overwhelmingly confident that they would succeed in luring or forcing workers to return to the office. Many believed—and still do—that they can only establish and maintain a strong culture if everyone is occupying the same workplace at the same time. Research over the last three years has shown that key tasks are done far more effectively in person, including onboarding and team brainstorming. Plus, according to a recent survey, one-quarter of corporate leaders admit they are hoping RTO mandates will get people to quit—and spare them from having to carry out layoffs or trim weaker employees.

But as it turned out, early incentives, such as renovated offices with gleaming new collaborative spaces, failed to bring people back (US firms poured $44 billion into office redesign in 2023 alone). As companies got tougher in demanding that people return, leaders discovered, to their surprise, that such policies were hard to enforce. Managers had discretion to sign off on hybrid arrangements for many reasons, effectively foiling RTO strategies. 

Many workers continue to fight RTO efforts. Indeed, experts say some skirt in-office requirements by showing up for five minutes and then leaving, a practice dubbed “coffee badging.” One-quarter of US employees say their firms’ return-to-office rules have changed multiple times, with 6% saying some policies have changed six times or more.

To be sure, some sectors are still fighting hard to enforce RTO policies, and the tough recent economic news may scare more workers back in. Still, experts say flexible work arrangements are consistently among the highest priorities of millions of employees, including many star performers who will be in demand in strong or weak times. “When you’re trying to pull talent away, you can’t just throw money, because there isn’t enough money,” says JP Sniffen, Korn Ferry’s practice leader in its Military Center of Expertise. 

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s Organizational Transformation capabilities. 

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