In 2025, employers might impose restrictions on your hybrid workflow

  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           NEW feature! Listen to this article as a podcast 

Last fall, several large, well-known American corporations such as Amazon, UPS, Salesforce, Dell, Starbucks, and others decided to order their employees to work from home back to their physical workplaces.

 "We want to recreate our office environments as they functioned before Covid. We want to optimize our employees' focus on collaboration, innovation, and social presence," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy explained.

At the beginning of 2025, Amazon announced a significant change to its work policy, requiring all employees to return to the office five days a week starting January 2.

Following this decision by the US giant, hundreds of companies worldwide also implemented stricter rules regarding home and hybrid work arrangements, though most considered existing flexible work agreements.

3 together, 2 wherever

In England, at the start of the new year, British Telecom declared their 50,000 office-based employees to work three days a week under the nevertheless welcoming slogan: "Three together, two wherever''.

Similarly, the consulting firm PwC informed the 26,000 employees that it started checking their daily working locations to ensure they all work at least three days a week in their physical office or with customers.

Personal presence generally promotes collaboration, creativity, and development, but hybrid working employees show the highest level of satisfaction, many studies have emphasized.                                                                                             Fotos: iStock

"It’s no secret that in-person presence fosters collaboration, creativity and development. While we increasingly see the pendulum swing back to being in the office five days a week, we feel confident that hybrid working will continue to be the norm in 2025.

Research shows that hybrid workers show the highest level of satisfaction, and hybrid workflows can enable more focused engagements,” Yolanda Seals-Coffield, Head of HR & Culture at PwC, says.

RTO policy

In 2025, several companies seem likely to require employees to return to physical offices. However, this will mostly depend on Return to Office (RTO) agreements, which usually do not require attendance all five days of the week.

Most organizations, including American, are expected to continue permitting employees to work remotely one or two days a week. 

Harvard economists state that hybrid workflows and models might be essential for attracting the talent companies need today.

"Mandatory office attendance five days a week can benefit new and younger employees who may require more structure and guidance in their daily tasks

But maybe companies hired the wrong people if they believe that the performance of experienced employees relies on their physical presence, Avery Morgan, HR manager at the EduBirdie communications agency and portal, says.

Banks leading the way

He fears that companies practising strict RTO policies risk losing their best employees to competitors that can offer hybrid and flexible WFA (work from anywhere) arrangements.

Instead of a closer and stronger collaborative culture, strict RTO requirements risk creating the opposite. Lack of trust in employees' ability to manage their work can erode commitment and loyalty.

A focus on presence over performance can easily backfire and obstruct the positive workplace culture that inspires employees to do their best," Avery Morgan warns. 

In 2025, America's largest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., is preparing to demand all its employees return to the office and thus kill its hybrid policy as competitors Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, HSBC and Barclays previously did.

Right after the New Year, JPMorgan Chase & Co., America’s largest bank with over 300,000 employees worldwide, announced that it would require all employees to return to the office five days a week.

This move makes JPMorgan the latest major bank to eliminate its hybrid work policy, joining others like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, HSBC, and Barclays in returning to pre-COVID-19 work practices.  ● 

Read more:
Forbes.com: Why return to office (RTO) mandates will backfire
Allthingstalent.org: Whatever your boss says, hybrid work is here to stay
Yahoo.com: Post-Xmas blues as UK bosses try to turn back clock on hybrid working
Businessinsider.nl: Don’t be surprised if you’re asked to spend more time in the office