The final battle in the return to office war?

This summer, a whole bunch of companies—including, ironically, Zoom—announced return-to-office mandates, with few exceptions. Some of those companies have since backtracked, while others have held firm. This is, however, the third September to feature these attempts to lure employees back to downtown office buildings, and it hasn’t really worked so far.

Dr. Catherine Connelly, a professor of Human Resources & Management at McMaster University, says that firing people for non-compliance with back-to-work policies may not be in a company’s best interest. “You will lose your best people, because they have options anywhere,” says Connelly.

Will tougher measures get it done where snacks and perks have failed? Will anything convince employees who have options to give up their work-life balance for a pointless commute? What have we learned about in-person vs. remote work over the past few years, anyway? Is there really any reason this fight is still going?

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