Trying to skip out on RTO mandates? You're not alone

Companies aren't taking their foot off the gas when it comes to return-to-office mandates. But just because employers require workers to be in-person, it doesn't necessarily mean workers will comply. 

According to ResumeBuilder, one in five workers are ignoring their company's RTO policy. Commute time, lack of flexibility and transportation costs were the biggest drivers behind their opposition. Given that ResumeBuilder estimates that nine in 10 companies will return to the office to some extent by 2025, this leaves employers in a difficult position: Go back on their mandates and allow more flexibility, or enforce their policy and risk losing top talent. ResumeBuilder found that if companies began cracking down on RTO compliance, 20% of workers report that they're very likely to leave and 33% say they're somewhat likely to follow suit. 

"We're still in this tug of war between employers and employees and how everybody wants to work," says Stacie Haller, chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder. "But the genie was let out of the bottle after COVID started — there are a lot of folks out there who know they function better when they're remote. So even when companies demand a return to the office, there will be some people who are just not going to go along with the plan."

Read more: Why coworking spaces may be the best RTO strategy

For Haller, it's clear that employers must accept the new normal set by the pandemic, rather than falling back on pre-2020 habits. She stresses that workers' expectations of what their work day looks like have changed drastically in the last four years. Unsurprisingly, a majority of workers want to be in-office less than three days a week, according to ResumeBuilder.

"Workers want to be able to have a doctor's appointment in the morning; they want to be able to run out to help an older parent," says Haller. "Then, when you commute, you virtually take a pay cut because of the commuting cost, plus the time you spend commuting."

And while some employers argue that drops in productivity are the motivation behind RTO mandates, Haller is skeptical. The optimal conditions for someone to work in are up to individual preference, instead of something that employers can guess, Haller underlines. Notably, ResumeBuilder found that 68% of workers believe their productivity would improve if they could choose their own schedule, meaning they have agency over when they come into the office, or if they come into the office at all. 

Read more: Data is the key to figuring out whether an RTO strategy will be effective

"Some people work best in an office, and some people work best not in an office," says Haller. "It behooves everybody to work in their most productive manner. Productivity is unique to each individual."

Haller also questions if increasingly restrictive mandates are intended to make employees quit. "They're looking for attrition, and this way, they don't have to do layoffs," she says. 

For employers who are enacting RTO policies in good faith, Haller advises them to reach out to workers, whether through check-ins, surveys or even exit interviews to determine how their employees like to work. Ideally, an RTO policy allows workers to choose their in-office days and have a degree of flexibility in their schedules even then. She warns employers against paying too much attention to big studies on remote versus in-person performance — ultimately, performance will depend on where an employee is more comfortable.

Read more: How to support working parents in a hybrid setting

If employers want a primarily in-office workforce, Haller suggests they hire employees who specifically want to work in the office.

"Don't make blanket assessments as to who works better where," says Haller. "In the long run, it's not going to help organizations unless they take into consideration the needs of the people so their organization could flourish. And I'm hoping that's the direction we're going in."