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While the push to bring workers back into the office post-pandemic began years ago, new research suggests that the return-to-office trend is hitting an inflection point—and hybrid work standards are evolving.
According to the Placer.ai Nationwide Office Building Index, which analyzes foot traffic across 1,000 commercial office buildings, visits to work sites studied in July were up nearly 11% compared to one year previously. It marked the busiest in-office month since before the pandemic, with traffic now at nearly 80% of pre-COVID levels.
The return-to-office push is evident among the nation’s leading employers: New research from Flex Index found that while nearly three-quarters of the Fortune 100 offer some flexibility to their workforces, nearly 30% have brought workers full-time back into the office. Employers are also asking hybrid workers to work on-site more frequently: Forty-five percent of the Fortune 100, Flex Index reports, require four or five days in-person, while about a third offer a three-day schedule.
Yet, the report cautions, the numbers don’t necessarily reflect “flexibility’s death.” Among the 9,000 U.S. firms Flex Index studied, there was an increase of 2 percentage points in the share of organizations requiring full-time work since last year—but changing state and federal government
