Besides increased productivity, many business leaders also cite improvements in communication, engagement and mental health
ResumeBuilder.com, the premier resource for professional resume templates and career advice, has published a recent survey report investigating return-to-office policies’ impact on companies. The report also shares insight into companies’ plans to increase or decrease mandated in-office days. In January 2024, ResumeBuilder.com surveyed 833 business leaders at companies that were fully remote during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and have now implemented an RTO policy.
According to the survey, 65 percent of business leaders say they have seen improvements in ‘communication’ due to RTO. Likewise, 63 percent say ‘productivity,’ 61 percent say ‘engagement,’ 53 percent say ‘mental health,’ and 52 percent say ‘morale.’ Only 26 percent of respondents say ‘burnout’ has improved. Survey results also highlight that 59 percent of business leaders believe employees spend more time on work when they are in-office as opposed to remote.
“In my experience, business leaders will report in a way that supports their initiatives, and I think that’s what we are seeing here with this survey,” says ResumeBuilder.com’s Resume and Career Strategist Julia Toothacre. “Given the amount of organizations doing layoffs or projecting layoffs, I’m not surprised that business leaders have seen a rise in productivity in the office. Personally, I think people are trying to prove themselves, whether they want to be in the office or not so they don’t lose their job.”
Survey findings also reveal that 46 percent of business leaders say employees should be required to be in-office for ‘four’ or ‘five’ days per week. Additionally, 33 percent say ‘three,’ 11 percent say ‘two,’ and 4 percent say ‘one.’ Only five percent say their company should allow employees to work fully remotely. While 47 percent of business leaders say their company does not have plans to change the number of days required to go to the office, 37 percent say their company plans to increase the number of days and 16 percent say their company plans to reduce the number of days.
