Research shows tech CEOs have given up on rigid RTO policies. — Getty Images/The New York Times
Many tech firms have spent the last two years summoning workers back into the office – all the while threatening them with layoffs. Even Zoom reverted to in-person working last year.
But now, it looks like tech bosses have given up their war on working from home.
Just 3% of tech firms are now asking their workers to go into the office full-time – a significant drop from 8% last year.
Flex Index analysed the flexible work policies for 2,670 tech companies that collectively employ over 11 million people – and it found that tech firms have conceded that flexible working is here to stay.
In fact, 79% of the tech firms surveyed are fully flexible, up from 75% in 2023.
Meanwhile, more and more firms are giving employees the choice of when and where they work.
While 38% of tech firms had an “employee’s choice” model in 2023, today that percentage has jumped to 56%. It’s now the most popular policy among tech firms.
In comparison, just 18% of firms are dictating which days their workers need to work from the office with a “structure hybrid model”.
Tech CEOs can’t make their minds up on RTO
Tech companies are perhaps the most well-positioned to work from home – and, in some cases, have even created the tools to do so.
It’s why in 2020, the likes of Meta, Twitter (now X), Shopify, and more declared that they were going to leverage the new decentralised way of working for good.
“We are going to be the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale, with a thoughtful and responsible plan for how to do this,” Mark Zuckerberg boasted, claiming that half of Meta’s employees would be working remotely within the next five to 10 years.
That was, until last year, when Zuckerberg declared that 2023 was going to be the “year of efficiency” and demanded workers return to work in the name of productivity, while simultaneously scaring staff into complying with mass layoffs.
Meanwhile, just two years after declaring that 60% of its workforce would operate remotely, Dellhas now told workers that they must go into the office three days a week if they want any hope of a promotion.
Google, Salesforce, and Amazon are also among major tech companies that are cracking down on return-to-office policies – and meeting resistance from workers.
CEOs have given up on RTO
It’s not just in the tech world that defeated CEOs have given up on forcing their workers to return to their vertical towers. Separate research echoes that CEOs across the board have softened their stance on working from home.
KPMG surveyed US CEOs of companies turning over at least US$500mil (RM2.19bil) and found that just one-third expect a full return to the office in the next three years.
It’s a complete 360 from their stance last year, when 62% of CEOs surveyed predicted that working from home would end by 2026.
Why the change of heart? It’s no secret that rigid in-office policies haven’t landed well with workers.
Leaders are perhaps experiencing more resistance than they had anticipated.
Amazon is perhaps the most documented example of how ugly the RTO battle can get: Around 30,000 employees signed a petition protesting the company’s in-office mandate, and more than 1,800 pledged to walk out from their jobs to take a stand.
The tech giant is still complaining that workers are dodging the three-day in-office mandate, over a year after it was announced.
Dropbox cofounder and CEO Drew Houston perfectly summed up the situation with bosses struggling over RTO: “They keep hitting the go-back-to-2019 button, and it’s clear it’s not working.” – Fortune.com/The New York Times
