As the amount of time spent working from home creeps downward around the globe, less than one-fifth of those working fully in an office environment consider that to be the ideal work model for them.
That’s less than ideal for business leaders charged with recruiting and retaining top talent as they decide whether a return-to-office mandate makes sense for the success of their companies.
“Any company that wants growth needs to care about workforce engagement levels,” Maria Amato, Korn Ferry senior client partner, said in the management consulting firm’s Workforce 2025 report. “Our research for the World’s Most Admired Companies found that organisations with the highest motivation and engagement saw twice the revenue growth of their worst-performing peers.”
According to Korn Ferry’s survey of more than 15,000 professionals worldwide, 59% reported working full time in an office. However, just 19% considered that arrangement to be ideal for them. Nearly half (48%) preferred a hybrid model, and 25% preferred fully remote (8% were unsure).
In a Stanford University global study featuring 2024 data, the average days per workweek spent outside the office inched down to 1.27 (from 1.33 in 2023 and 1.61 in 2022). Yet, the 16,000 college graduates surveyed across 40 countries wanted, on average, to be working outside of the office more than 2.5 days per week.
What are employees willing to do to get their wishes, and where does that leave leaders?
What employees are willing to do
In a recent Gallup poll of exclusively remote US workers, 64% indicated they would look for another job if they weren’t allowed to work remotely some of the time.
Some leaders may be tempted to view those as largely hollow threats in light of the Korn Ferry data indicating that 59% of employees around the world are working fully in an office, but the Gallup poll should serve as a reminder that employees still have plenty of choices. Gallup canvassed employees only in “remote-capable” roles, and amongst employees working in roles where remote work is practical, just 21% work in an office full time.
Another report, released Tuesday, looked at more than 9,000 companies without consideration of whether employees hold remote-capable roles. It found that in the first quarter of 2025, 67% offered some form of flexibility as opposed to a fully in-office model. That is down slightly from 69% the previous quarter, and among Fortune 500 companies, the percentage requiring full-time, in-office work rose from 13% to 24% over the same timeframe.
What leaders can do
In another US-based report, more than 75% of employees said they consider it important that their companies tailor work models based on individual employee needs. However, just 15% of company leaders surveyed said that giving employees full flexibility over their work model is their preferred approach.
Policies that create a blanket rule and policies that rely on case-by-case decisions can be equally messy. While it ultimately is up to leaders to decide what is best for their businesses, it’s best that they don’t lose sight of the importance of employee satisfaction to a company’s success.
In the Gallup poll, hybrid work policies that were decided together by employees’ work teams resulted in the greatest sense of fairness and had the greatest positive impact on creating a sense of collaboration.
“The best workplace policies aren’t about control. They’re about clarity, culture, and making it easy for people to do their best work,” said Daren Kemp, Korn Ferry president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.
