August 28, 2025
Before the pandemic, remote work was hardly a requirement, as the five-day workweek was the norm. However, when millions were forced to work from home, people found solace in avoiding long commutes and in-office politics.
More employers are ending remote work arrangements and calling their staff back into the office. Even with the orders, that doesn’t mean they’re complying. New research indicates that an increasing number of people are defying company expectations by working from home.
According to Brian Elliott, the CEO of Work Forward and publisher of the Flex Index, the average number of days employees are required to be in the office rose by 12% over the year. Attendance, however, increased by only 1% to 3%.
“The harsh return to the office mandate is like the law against jaywalking. It exists, everybody knows about it, and nobody obeys it because it makes little sense,” Stanford University Economics Professor Nick Bloom, who studies remote work, told USA Today.
Before the pandemic, remote work was hardly a requirement, as the five-day workweek was the norm. However, when millions were forced to work from home, people found solace in avoiding long commutes and in-office politics.
Why Employees Are Attracted To Remote Work
According to an August 2020 Upwork study, the average American who was able to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic saved approximately $2,000 between March and August 2020 by not commuting to work. This represented a total savings of over $90 billion for all remote workers during that period.
It wasn’t just money but time. Remote workers saved an average of 49.6 minutes per day from not commuting. The most significant time savings were achieved in the nation’s capital and New York City, where workers spend an average of 70 minutes or more per day commuting to work.
There was a consensus that people felt a better work-life balance when working from home (WFH). Employers, however, argued that WFH hurt collaboration and innovation from in-person interactions.
As more companies mandated that employees return to the office, employees voiced their frustrations. Many said that the long commutes actually increased stress, reduced productivity, and hurt family budgets, as reported by USA Today.
Not all is lost as companies demand that people return to the office. Studies consistently show that employers will have to offer remote and hybrid options to attract and retain top talent.
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