Returns to the Office Are Leaving Employees Disappointed

Work-from-home employees who were asked to return to the office are overwhelmingly disappointed. According to a survey conducted by BambooHR, 37 percent of inbound employees say they feel “worse in the office than even at their lowest point in the pandemic.” Leaders who are requesting their employees return to traditional office environments should take note of this sobering figure and quickly figure out what returning employees were hoping for and what they’re seeing instead. One of the main drivers of this disappointment, the study revealed, was that their company’s culture—which was always a key justification for having everyone back in the office—hadn’t improved. Nearly 80 percent of respondents felt this way. Another linchpin in the argument for returning to the office—collaboration—didn’t fare much better. About 61 percent of respondents said they’d hoped for more in-person collaboration, but only 49 percent reported experiencing it. Productivity didn’t skyrocket, and feelings of pride remained stagnant. Now that remote work has taken hold, it might be impossible to go back to the way things were before. One thing is certain, though—if you’re going to demand employees return to the office, you need to make a good case for it.