Here’s some potentially bad news for the office property sector: a new survey from FTI Consulting Inc. (NYSE: FCN) found most US workers (70%) who are currently either fully remote or in a hybrid arrangement said they are very likely or somewhat likely to seek another job if they are required to return to the office (RTO) full time at their current salary.
Nearly half (45%) of those who are fully remote said that being able to work remotely or have the flexibility to work in a hybrid setting is one of the most important aspects of their employment. Similarly, 41% of current hybrid workers gave the same answer, while only 15% of current in-office workers prioritized the remote or hybrid work arrangement.
Of those who are currently working remotely, 88% said they would be willing to work in the office for at least some portion of the week, with 33% indicating no more than two days, and 29% saying as many as three to four days a week.
As for those who would be accepting of an RTO mandate, 60% said they would appreciate the camaraderie of a workplace environment and 53% said they are more productive working in the office.
Geographically, employees in the Northeast (45%) and the South (45%) were most likely to seek alternative employment compared with those in the West (29%), if required to return to the office full time. Among Gen Z respondents, 42% said they would be excited and 33% would be accepting of a possible RTO mandate, compared to just 33% of Gen X respondents who said they were excited and 25% who said they would be accepting. Baby boomers and older were least likely to seek alternative employment (31%) compared to millennials (45%) and Gen Z (45%), if required to return to the office full time.
“We have all seen the headlines about the return-to-office mandates by some of the nation’s largest employers, with some companies reporting that they expect all of their workers, with few exceptions, to return to the office full time in 2025,” said Josh Herrenkohl, a senior managing director in the real estate solutions practice at FTI Consulting. “But our research shows that their ability to implement this mandate is not cut-and-dry, and employers risk losing talent if RTO mandates are enforced. How employees feel about RTO involves many factors, including their industry, the size of their company, whether they have children and the nature of their current work arrangement.”
The survey was conducted by Southpaw Insights for FTI Consulting’s Real Estate Solutions practice among 1,000 people who worked in a corporate office setting or home office setting.
