One year ago, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon mandated that employees return to the office, sparking similar announcements across the country. The latest company to climb on the bandwagon is Microsoft, where workers now must show up at the office at least three days a week.
This trend comes despite recent research showing that remote and hybrid work do not undermine productivity. Sharon Hill, a professor of management at the George Washington University School of Business, has spent more than two decades researching virtual work. She explains what is driving the push to return to the office, how managers have been placed in a difficult position, and what employees are willing to give up to work remotely.
Q: Since the 1990s, organizations have been incorporating remote workers. The pandemic accelerated that momentum. But now many businesses have gone into reverse. More than half of Fortune 100 companies require full-time in-person work—a staggering shift from 2023 when only 5% of employees were in the office every day. Why are we in this office-versus-remote tug-of-war?
A: A lot of it stems from old leadership practices. Organizations have trouble with the remote or hybrid workplace because they don’t understand you need to change your leadership approach to make it work. You can’t keep leading the way you used to. And then you get prominent voices, like Jamie Dimon, and immediately it’s follow-the-leader rather than taking an informed and strategic perspective.
Q: Do remote and hybrid workplaces really work?
A: Research studies show that organizations that have embraced virtual and hybrid work are benefiting from it with higher productivity. To make this happen, however, you must have the right workplace configuration. You cannot take a blanket approach.