We’re barely into 2025, and already, some of the UK’s biggest companies, including Amazon, JP Morgan, BT, PwC, Asda, Starling Bank and Santander have made headlines for mandating their employees to work from the office.

2020 now feels like a distant memory, a time when we all used to work from our bedrooms, connecting with colleagues over slightly cringey virtual socials, video calls instead of meetings and endless shouts of “You’re on mute!” But as apocalyptic as the pandemic felt, there’s one important thing to keep in mind about the new, more flexible way we worked: it was better. For employees – especially women, carers and other underrepresented groups – but also for businesses, employers and the economy at large.

So why now are we forcing workers to go back to the office and, effectively, back in time?

Ever since we came out of lockdowns and offices opened up again, we’ve seen employees resist a return back to traditional working through different behaviours, largely championed by Gen Z who made them trendy: coffee-badging, quiet quitting and, more recently among managers, hushed hybrid and fauxductivity.

It’s clear that return to office (RTO) mandates are deeply unpopular with workers. And with increased costs, wasted commute time and stress associated with working from the office, the biggest reason for workers’ resistance towards RTO is simple: there simply is not a compelling, data-backed reason for employers to revoke employees’ flexibility.

Up to 66% of professionals believe their employer is requiring them to work from the office because that’s “how it’s always been done”, according to a recent State of Hybrid Work report by Owl Labs. Nearly half of professionals believe their employers are forcing them back to the office to fill empty real estate, with 26% affected by changes to remote or hybrid company policies in the last year, the report found.

“Businesses are under a range of pressures, with RTO mandates often deemed the answer to developing greater cohesion between employees and improving productivity. Data is increasingly demonstrating that this simply isn’t the case,” says Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs.

“Most managers (78%) experience no issues with productivity when managing team members remotely, meaning that RTO mandates may not be the answer. Enforcing RTO mandates and strict timetables for being physically present is a dead concept.”

There are employees who genuinely enjoy working from the office full time, although they’re in the minority – only 2% of UK hybrid workers, according to the report.

Sally Buch recently started a new job as a global partner manager at Flight Studio, where she works every day from the company’s Shoreditch office, but she used to work in a hybrid pattern in her previous role.

“Moving back to full time in-office working has actually (fairly unexpectedly) been great,” she tells Stylist. “As I was starting a new role with a new company, the office-first policy was part of the new job package, which made the transition easier as it all felt new and exciting. Being together in-person every day has positively impacted my career, getting to know new colleagues much faster and work with them better. From a visibility perspective, I make connections with senior leadership in a more organic and authentic way, and they can see me driving towards our wider goals.”

By contrast, most workers prefer hybrid working with flexibility to decide when and how they work, both in the office and elsewhere – even more than working fully remotely.

Sarah* works at a travel company that had a three-day in-office work policy – until now, that is. “Our HR department sent us an email saying: ‘Happy Christmas, and by the way, we’re reducing your work-from-home days,’” she tells us. “The communication and timing was terrible. Their reasoning was productivity. My immediate reaction was: show me the receipts – what’s the data? You can’t miss a target you don’t have.”

The keys to maintaining positive employee sentiment when it comes to where and how they work are transparency, freedom of choice and trust. Ultimately, changing work policies which take back employees’ hard won flexibility feels like a loss. “It feels very backwards and unreflective of what people want and need,” Sarah said.

Emily Fish works for NHS Charities Together, a remote-first organisation. “I didn’t pick the role specifically because it was fully remote, although I have found it beneficial not having to commute. I also find it allows a better work-life balance and more flexibility,” she says. “It would be nice to go into the office once a week or even once a fortnight, but I definitely wouldn’t go into the office full time. My partner does this and I do not envy him.”

One of the big arguments for a return to the office, specifically for women, is to help them climb up the corporate ladder. A new survey by Reed found that staff who don’t work from home are more likely to be promoted.

It’s logical (but unfair) that proximity bias permeates work culture. When it comes time for pay rises and promotions, despite how much value they contribute, women who are out of sight are also out of mind.

But instead of putting the onus on women to change their behaviour and fit the system they’re in – as usual – we should be challenging the system itself. The issue is not with women working in a way that works for them. It’s with the perception that visibility equals value, which then becomes reality in the modern workforce.

We’re now in a post-pandemic timeline in which all the benefits of non-traditional work, such as flexibility and cost savings, are being stripped back, but none of the benefits of the before-times still exist, like regular career progression, pay rises, healthy pensions and job security.

If companies want to implement RTO mandates with a heavy hand without risking another Great Resignation, they should be prepared to offer more carrots than sticks, including a real approach to eliminating discrimination and microaggressions at work, compelling recognition and rewards, upward and consistent career growth, childcare support and competitive pay packets that are actually, y’know, competitive.

Effectively, return-to-office mandates are proof of the desire for more control and less freedom for the individuals who make the world run.

*Name has been changed.

Images: Adobe