Over the last 6 months, we have seen a growing number of companies enforcing a Return To Office (RTO) policy which has meant that many would have to jump back into the pre-COVID routine, ditch the home office setup and get those comfy commuting shoes back on!

We have seen the likes of Amazon and Salesforce in the UK pushing the return to office movement back in October 2024. https://startups.co.uk/news/companies-ordering-return-to-office/
Salesforce HR, Engineering, Sales and Support teams are now required to be working from the office 4-5 days per week…. this is 2 years after Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff stated publicly that “office mandates are never going to work.”

More recently, a mandate signed by Trump in the US, states all federal employees will now be required to work from the office rather than the remote roles they previously held. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2025/01/22/trump-signs-rto-order-whats-happening-to-remote-jobs-in-2025/
This is after the Department of Government Efficiency, “DOGE” think tank has been formed with its goal of slashing costs and expenditure of resources by 2026.

A recent Pew Research Center survey reported that 46% of remote workers would readily leave if the job no longer allowed them to work remotely. Remote workers’ views of returning to office | Pew Research Center
So, are we seeing companies forcing the hand with this RTO wave across the Atlantic and calling the remote workers bluff to cut down resources whilst seeing economic uncertainty?
With AI advancements, is there a long-term plan to reduce headcount where AI can step in?

Let’s see what the next 5 years have in store for us and the workforce whether that be working 9-5 back in the office, alongside your AI avatar colleague in the metaverse, or working on another planet…..

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