Companies Want Workers to Return to Office. The Task May Prove Challenging.

Apple CEO Tim Cook extols “being together again” as he outlines the company’s hybrid work plan. Jeff Shell, head of NBCUniversal, tells his staff that “our offices are ready for your return.” Twitter, meanwhile, has made it official to let employees work remotely “forever.”

As the pandemic grinds on, companies face a vexing question: To return or not to return—and how frequently?

Here in Canada, 19% of employees work almost exclusively from home, down from 24% in January, according to the latest jobs report. Masks have come off and office rental market is up. Last Wednesday, RioCan, a major Canadian real estate trust, reported a 97% occupancy rate, compared to 95% a year earlier.

Yet persuading Canadian workers to return won’t be easy.

In a March CBC/Angus Reid poll, more than half of those surveyed said they would consider quitting if their employers instituted a full-time, back-to-office mandate. About a third said they would accept such a policy. In the United States, a 2021 survey found that 55% of millennials remained skeptical of the wisdom of returning to the office, while only 36% of baby boomers harboured the same doubts.

Employers have ample reasons for a back-to-office mandate. Research shows that people exhibit enhanced mental function when interacting with others—talking, socializing and connecting. Studies from Harvard and MIT demonstrate that academics working in closer proximity produce better research papers. There’s also the spillover effect. Good performance by a team member can spread among others.

Small wonder some companies have pulled out all stops to lure workers back. Some are offering free food, and many have toyed with the idea of a four-day workweek. To entice workers to return to the office, 88% of companies have deployed incentives of various kinds—Lizzo concerts, beer and wine tastings, swag, and group fitness classes; some have revamped their office spaces.

For many, future of work will follow a hybrid model. In case you are wondering about the best day for workers to return, the Wall Street Journal, after analyzing restaurant foot traffic and daily commute patterns, has the verdict: Wednesday.

“Wednesday used to be rather ho-hum as days go—too far into the week to start anything ambitious, but not close enough to the weekend to start pining for time off.” The newspaper said, “Nobody talks about the Wednesday-morning blues, there’s no TGIW. Consider its distinctly unglamorous nickname: Hump Day.”