4 workplace culture trends to watch in 2025

Published 2 Min Read

A man sips his coffee while typing on his laptop with one hand; his breakfast sits untouched on the table.
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This year has been filled with return-to-office mandates, resulting in demands for work-life balance, as seen through trends like quiet quitting and growing anxiety around what the future has in store for workers. And it looks like in 2025, employers will see their employees follow up on these issues. 

Demands for flexibility, higher quality of management, work-life boundaries and mental health support will continue to shape workplace culture in the new year, further driving home that corporate America cannot return to its pre-2020 norms and practices, says Frank Weishaupt, the CEO of video conferencing tech company Owl Labs. However, it’s not clear how much employers will concede to employees in the next year, especially in a labor market that now favors employers over talent. 

Weishaupt predicts that hybrid work will eventually become the norm, with workers going into the office two to three times a week. According to Owl Labs, workers rank flexible work hours nearly as high as healthcare benefits when evaluating a possible new employer — but this goes further than being able to work from home. Workers also want to escape the expectation that they must be working nine to five in order to be considered productive. 

Read more: Why employees should start their New Year’s resolutions now

Deanna Cuadra
Senior Reporter

Deanna Cuadra is a senior reporter at Employee Benefit News. Her work covers healthcare, U.S. policy and reform, challenges faced by women and parents in the workplace and innovation in work culture … Read full bio


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