The Office Comeback: What’s Holding Employees Back from Returning

The push for employees to return to in-person attendance has intensified in 2025, with many businesses implementing return to office mandates. While many advocate that in-person office attendance fosters a stronger sense of collaboration and culture, employees are not coming back to offices in droves, as expected. Several key factors suggest what might be holding workers back; from commuting challenges to financial considerations.

What Commuting Challenges Are Preventing Employees from Returning?

The daily commute remains a major deterrent for many employees in returning to the office. Costly, long and stressful commutes are reported as one of the key challenges to navigate when mandating a return to in-office attendance.

• 41% of employees are citing the length of their daily commute as a barrier to returning to the office.
  
  
• 20% of employees are discouraged by the rising expense of parking, particularly across urban areas.

Businesses looking to encourage and incentivize employees back into the office can address these concerns through flexible working hours, parking reimbursements and susbidized commuting programs to lessen the impact of a peak-hour (and heavily congested) commute.

How Does Work-Life Balance Impact RTO?

The flexibility of remote work gained during the pandemic has shifted worker perceptions and attitudes towards ways of working, with more and more employees focusing on a healthy work/life balance over conforming to rigid working arrangements. Many employees are reluctant to return to any in-person attendance structure that might disrupt their personal responsibilities.

• Having experienced the freedom and flexibility of remote work, employees are choosing to prioritize roles that provide a healthier work/life balance over in-person collaboration.

• The rising costs of things like childcare and pet care costs are adding an additional financial burden that the pandemic temporarily alleviated, further discouraging RTO.

• Many employees prefer the autonomy that a remote role can provide, allowing them to better manage their time and productivity.

Businesses recognizing this shift in mindsets can explore hybrid or more flexible working models that allow employees to maintain some level of autonomy, without compromising a sense of in-person collaboration.

Is the Office Environment Conducive to Productivity?

While the traditional office setting can be seen to boost productivity and foster creativity and collaboration in the workplace, for many, it is seen as a space less conducive to deep and focused work.

• Overcrowded spaces and rising noise levels in open offices can be seen as more of a distraction than a hub of productivity and collaboration.

• Morale suffers where employees see forced return to office as a signal of distrust and micromanaging.

Business could stand to rethink office layouts to improve the appeal of attendance, with quiet zones, collaboration areas and flexible desk setups designed to cater to individual needs, requirements and working styles.

Why Are Employees Resisting RTO?

Beyond the day to day logistics and concerns surrounding RTO, emotional resistance is playing a significant part of an employees’ reluctance to return.

• The removal of remote working arrangements is seen as a removal of a perk or benefit gained during the pandemic.

• A lack of employee input into RTO decisions is fueling disengagement and pushback, with workers feeling that their concerns are not being addressed.

• Employees are feeling pressured into compliance with RTO mandates, with more and more businesses tying in-office attendance to promotions, bonuses and other benefits.

Businesses MUST foster open and transparent lines of communication and involve employees in shaping RTO policies to increase the likelihood of success in easing the transition back to in person attendance as standard.

What Financial Burdens Come with Returning to the Office?

Mandating a return to office will incur direct and indirect costs for your business and your employees, many of which can make the transition unappealing.

‍For employees; commuting costs (gas, transit fares, parking) can add up quickly, in addition to salary sacrifice imposed by choosing to continue working remotely. 

For employers; the expense of office space and infrastructure can be a costly overhead, and that is not including the additional expense of car parking facilities.

To mitigate financial challenges, many businesses are offering commuting stipends, performance based incentives and pay adjustments that acknowledge and offset the financial burden of returning to in person office attendance.

How Are Companies Encouraging Office Returns?

In spite of the challenges surrounding RTO, businesses across the country are taking different approaches to encourage employees back to the workplace:

Strict mandates - Many businesses have opted to mandate employee attendance for a set number of days per week, with consequences for those who chose not to.

Hybrid flexibility - Other businesses have recognized the need for flexibility, trust and self-autonomy, allowing a mix of remote and in-office attendance.

Culture-driven incentives - Some businesses are choosing to invest in resources, perks and initiatives that make employees WANT to come into the office (team building/ social events/ catering etc)

While the preference for remote working remains strong, studies are showing that as many as two thirds of employees would sacrifice a 15% pay increase over being able to stay working remotely.

The future of the workplace is undoubtedly evolving, and evolving fast! Businesses that listen to the concerns of their employees and build flexibility into working arrangements will be the ones best positioned to attract and retain the best talent. Finding that healthy balance between the needs of the business and the needs of the employees will be critical for long term success.

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