Researchers studying RTO policies of S&P 500 companies found no improvement in the value of the businesses that brought workers back to the office.

Billionaire CEOs were quick to sing the praises of working from home at the start of the pandemic, calling it the way of the future — but over the last three years, they’ve slowly changed their tune.

Late last year, Forbes reported that 90% of companies will return to the office in 2024, with 28% threatening to fire workers who don’t comply.

But it turns out that the motivations for calling workers back to the office may have less to do with employee productivity or profit margins and everything to do with catering to the egos of controlling managers who want their workers back, according to a recent study published by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.

Mark Ma, an associate professor of business administration from Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business, who led the study, told BI he started the research hoping to understand why some S&P 500 firms want employees to return to the office while other firms avoid calling them back.

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“One of the most common arguments management suggests is that they want to return to office because employee productivity is low at home, and they believe returns to office would help firms improve performance and ultimately improve the firm’s value,” Ma told BI. “That’s the reason they give — but our results actually do not support these arguments.”

  • @bassomitron@lemmy.worldEnglish
    47•1 year ago

    I think it’s a bundle of factors why so much of management has turned their backs on WFH the last few years, but ego is certainly one of them.

    My personal theory is that work-driven extroverts are typically those in management and executive positions. It’s not shocking that they’d be miserable having empty offices. This is especially so for those where the majority of their professional careers have revolved around networking and climbing the ladder by knowing the right people.

    Regardless, it’s all been extremely frustrating to witness. I’m extroverted at work, but I loathe going into the office more than one or two days a week. I try to keep my social life completely separate from work, but I’ve known countless people whose primary socializing revolved around their job. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, some job fields just naturally tend to foster more camaraderie than others due to the nature of their work (e.g. odd work hours, extremely demanding work environment, etc). I just despise it when those who desire it and are in a position to force it on other workers do so.