Lisa Morgan, Freelance WriterDecember 30, 20249 Min ReadDmitriy Shironosov via Alamy Stock After surviving the pandemic with work-from-home policies, some organizations have decided that work should return to its pre-pandemic state in which most employees were expected to be in the office at least part of the week, if not the whole week.The problem with that is two-fold: First, organizations admitted that they were pleasantly surprised by remote work productivity, but now theyre saying, Yeah, but training is easier and water cooler conversations are golden. While those are compelling facts, organizations are forgetting that employees may vote with their feet.One reason is that employees discovered a new work-life balance during the pandemic that many do not want to give up. For some, that means flexible hours. For others, its the ability to be present at work and at home simultaneously.Especially the United States, [workers] have moved from big cities or simply to other areas far from their corporate offices, and their children have started attending schools near their new homes to work remotely. So, the requirement to start working in the office again means either a new move or a job change, says Diana Soprana Blaaitien, international HR and remote work expert for hospitality and IT sectors across Scandinavia and Germany. Employees who are told to return to the office are also unhappy about the increased costs of work: clothing, transportation, lunches, [and commute time].Related:Return to office (RTO) is the main reason why some people are changing jobs right now, particularly Gen Z.Gen Z, who prioritize work-life balance, will undoubtedly choose organizations without a strict RTO policy. This means that top talent and more candidates in general will be attracted by those that offer the opportunity to work remotely at least part of the time, says Blaaitien. Even some employees who come to me for selections identify the RTO policy as a deception by the employer because they were hired when they could work remotely, and now they are required to return to the office.The real reason RTO is happening is that some executives and managers feel more in control, or they believe remote work processes are not properly structured and managed. Theres also the real estate issue of leased and owned properties that are not being used to capacity.Diana Soprana BlaaitienI think that CEOs need to understand that the factory work structure -- work from 8 to 5 -- is already outdated and we are inevitably entering an era of a different perception and nature of work, says Blaaitien.Related:Dovil Gelinskait, senior talent manager at omnichannel marketing platform Omnisend, agrees.RTO mandates ignore the true purpose of on-site work: fostering creativity and teamwork. At Omnisend, we recognize that brainstorming, workshops and team building cant be replicated remotely. However, weve also found that rigid, outdated workplace models fail to reflect how much the nature of work has changed, says Gelinskait. Flexibility is now an expectation, especially among younger generations, so finding that balance between flexibility and in-person interactions is crucial. Companies that fail to do so will lose great talent to companies that do.RTO Adds to Stress and BurnoutOrganizations are facing pushback on their RTO policies, but employee exoduses will send a much more powerful message.In general, people do not like feeling that things are happening to them, and that they have no say, or choice in the matter. So, when you suddenly pivot to an RTO mandate, employees will take it personally, as it does impact their personal lives, and they will likely feel demoralized, says Ashley Alexander, chief people officer at observability platform Chronosphere. In most cases, employees are professional adults, so making knee-jerk decisions is going to cause unnecessary stress or burnout.Related:One reason RTO policies fail is because the employees who were forced back to the office spend their day on Zoom calls with colleagues who arent physically present.To avoid [this annoyance], there needs to be a thoughtful strategy ensuring pods or teams collaborating closely or benefiting from shared learning are in the office together, says Alexander. A sudden shift from remote work to RTO often highlights how dispersed teams have become. Without a clear location-based strategy tied to roles and responsibilities, the transition can feel chaotic and ineffective.A better way to approach it is to clearly explain how RTO benefits employees, or how the mandate positively impacts customers and the ability to get work done more efficiently. There should also be reasonable time given for employees to opt in or out of the RTO mandate, and executives should have to follow the same expectations as everyone else.According to Rachel Marcuse, COO at organizational consulting firm ReadySet, many employees see RTO as a regressive, antiquated move.Employees may be less engaged during a workday bookended by commutes and less than enthusiastic about the financial and climate costs of traveling to the office daily, says Marcuse. [B]usinesses could lose out on the best Gen Z talent, with recent studies showing that Gen Zers want the option to work remotely -- even as they also crave some level of in-person collaboration.Downstream EffectsAs companies enforce their RTO policies, there are downstream effects, the most obvious of which is getting employees to change their behavior, yet again.More rigid mandates shrink the available talent pool, especially for organizations, particularly those in smaller markets. Remote work has been a boon for these companies, granting access to talent they wouldnt typically be able to attract, says Darrin Murriner, CEO and co-founder at automated technology coaching platform Cloverleaf. For candidates, rigid RTO decreases the number of available job opportunities, creating a lose-lose situation for both sides.For example, such mandates increase operational costs, including housing in-office employees and managing relocations. These policies can also create disruption and uncertainty, driving valuable employees to reconsider their roles within the organization.For employees, rigid RTO policies can disrupt work-life balance and push them to seek employers offering more flexibility. For candidates, RTO mandates reduce job opportunities by limiting options to local markets rather than leveraging the global opportunities remote work provides, says Murriner. This creates a more constrained and less competitive job market, diminishing both employee and employer prospects for finding the best matches.Rather than simply issuing an RTO policy from the top-down, it is wiser to gather input from all levels, creating tailored solutions for specific roles, and providing flexibility for individual managers to adapt policies to their teams. Such strategies mitigate disruption and uncertainty, help retain top talent, and foster trust by focusing on clarity and predictability.How DOGE May Impact RTOThe United States new Department of Government Efficiency, (DOGE) a consultancy jointly spearheaded by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has already made it clear that RTO five days a week will be non-optional for government employees. What impact might that have on the private sector? For one thing, it may embolden more private companies to issue RTO mandates of their own.Cloverleafs Murriner believes government RTO mandates like DOGE will likely shift costs rather than solve workforce challenges.These mandates increase the financial burden of housing in-office employees and managing relocations, and they exacerbate societal costs in cities with larger federal employee bases, like DC, where traffic congestion and infrastructure challenges could worsen, says Murriner. For private organizations, these mandates may have some influence, but the private sector is more likely to prioritize adaptable, talent-driven policies over rigid government models, avoiding the pitfalls of unnecessary cost and limited flexibility.What if RTO Mandates Really Do Fail?If RTO mandates fail, it will prove that strict office policies no longer fit the realities of modern work, according to Omnisends Gelinskait.Employers will have to invest in flexible work models and employee well-being instead of maintaining office space. In the long run, this could make such companies more competitive in todays job market, whereas those that cling to office-first policies will likely struggle to attract and retain top talent, says Gelinskait. A sound RTO strategy should make people want to be there. Employers should clearly communicate the benefits of office attendance, such as tasks or activities that thrive on in-person interaction. A strong strategy should also involve employees in shaping how office time is used.For example, at Omnisend, the team leads decide what kind of working model they apply. Some teams benefit from in-office work much more than others, so this dynamic approach allows each team to tailor their work model to what works best for them.Chris Rowe, co-founder of executive recruiting firm pltfm believes that any mandated policy in 2025, RTO or not, has potential to fail. If talent has a choice of being in the office two or three days a week versus five, theyll choose the lesser amount.Chris Rowe, pltfm My sense is that [4 days in the office and one at home or five days in the office] are far more common and the fully remote icecaps are somewhat melting under people's feet, says Rowe. Companies need to compete for talent, so I suspect there will be policy, and then there will be shades of grey around that policy. The strongest companies in [each] sector typically have the strongest and most defined cultures, says Rowe. Any of those companies will tell you that regardless of the multimillion-dollar budgets they deploy via digital learning initiatives, the best learning comes via an apprenticeship culture, fostered by listening, watching and doing. This latter argument supports RTO.While Rowe believes most career-orientated candidates will compromise if the opportunity is right, a mandated five-day RTO is a significant buzzkill for talent, even if the brand will significantly elevate someone's resum. He recommends that companies:Identify core competitors for talent. (Tip: they probably arent your core competitors.)Understand what they are doing RTO-wise.Be curious about what you can learn from them.Design an RTO strategy that satisfies the executive committee and still keeps the company looking more progressive than the full-week RTO competitor.Train hiring managers to deploy "shades of grey" around the rhetoric and policy.Bottom LineOrganizations are engaging in risky behavior by issuing top-down RTO mandates that are in direct conflict with what employees embraced as the new normal during the pandemic. While there are benefits of working in an office, a blanket five-day RTO mandate is likely to face considerable resistance.After all, a simple change in policy can have far-reaching implications for employees that employers need to consider. The price of the mismatch may be losing good employees to competitors and difficulty attracting top or critical talent.About the AuthorLisa MorganFreelance WriterLisa Morgan is a freelance writer who covers business and IT strategy and emergingtechnology for InformationWeek. She has contributed articles, reports, and other types of content to many technology, business, and mainstream publications and sites including tech pubs, The Washington Post and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Frequent areas of coverage include AI, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, mobility, software development, and emerging cultural issues affecting the C-suite.See more from Lisa MorganNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports