Return to Office Trends Q4 2024
In the last quarter of 2024, large corporations announced return-to-office (RTO) mandates, some of which require employees to be onsite five days per week. Companies cite collaboration, company culture, mentorship, career development, knowledge transfer, and productivity as leading reasons to enforce a return to office. While many employees, and even experts in workplace culture, debate the impact of these factors on performance and productivity, new RTO policies in 2025 raise questions about the direction of work location flexibility.
The 2024 Q4 Flex Index Report (not affiliated with FLEX by Fenwick) categorized work arrangements into three groups: 1) Fully Flexible, with the option to work up to 100% remotely by employee choice; 2) Structured Hybrid with specific expectations on the number of days, which days, or percentage of time in the office; 3) Full Time in Office.
The study reveals a noteworthy trend towards structured hybrid work models, with 43% of companies implementing this model — a significant increase from only 20% in early 2023. Conversely, completely flexible policies have declined, with only 25% of companies implementing this, down from 31% in Q1 2023. Companies aren't just suggesting office time, they're mandating it, with the average days required in the office increasing to 2.78 days per week. Interestingly, 79% of these companies set minimum weekly office hours rather than specified workdays, allowing some level of flexibility. It's also noted that full-working days in the office are uncommon, suggesting companies are still trying to strike a balance between collaboration and flexibility.
Full-time in office demand dropped between Q1 and Q4.
Not surprisingly, flexible work location varies with industry and company size. Among industries surveyed, Technology provides the most work location flexibility. Also, smaller companies of 500 employees or less are more likely to provide fully flexible work locations than companies with more than 500 employees.
Thought leaders in workplace culture anticipate that stricter RTO mandates will lead to increased employee attrition. What can companies do to mitigate loss? The FLEX by Fenwick team explores potential ways:
- Offer flexible work arrangements:
Implement a hybrid work model that allows employees to choose their in-office days based on their needs.
- Focus on employee well-being:
Prioritize employee health and work-life balance with supportive policies and initiatives.
- Communicate transparently:
Clearly explain the rationale behind the return to office policy and involve employees in the decision-making process.
- Hire interim employees to backfill resignations:
Avoid pitfalls of burnout and increased workload on existing employees by hiring interim workforce to cover employee vacancies. Vet and identify which employment resources to contact depending on the department and role. FLEX by Fenwick partners with technology and life sciences companies on interim, in-house counsel needs. Our clients turn to FLEX for both planned and unexpected workface changes.
Last year, we saw a trend toward Structured Hybrid work models in Q4 as companies leaned into evolving perspectives on workplace flexibility. To balance the potential risk of attrition due to RTO mandates with company interests that stem from an in-person workforce, mid to large size companies may continue to mandate more flexible hybrid RTO models.