Remote-work study researchers believe that cultural norms also play a role in return-to-work levels. Many American workers say they feel comfortable asking their managers for more flexibility, or even telling them they will quit without it.
When Laura Zimm, a public defender in Duluth, Minn., was called back to the office last year, she immediately came down with Covid. He worked from home during and after his illness, and eventually decided with his manager that he would stay away permanently, which Ms. Zimm and gave his manager more flexibility in office space.
At Microsoft, the return-to-office process often includes “team agreements,” where managers meet with employees to discuss hybrid work preferences.
In parts of Europe, unions and other labor associations have helped shape return-to-office policies. In many German companies, for example, employee-elected councils discuss with managers the details of hybrid work.
“We had to find a solution that would work for all our employees, whether in software development, finance or on the shop floor,” says Julia Bangerth, head of human resources at Datev, a software company in Nuremberg that allows every team to set its own return-to-office expectations.
And the choices that individual employers make are not isolated. In areas of the world where remote or hybrid work has become the norm, employers with strict back-office policies are concerned about retaining talent, said Mark Ein, the firm’s chairman. of workplace security Kastle, which tracked American office occupancy levels with “Back to Work Barometer.”
“Business leaders as a group want people to come back in a deeper way,” Mr. Ein said. “It was really the competitive pressures of the labor market and some cultural norms that got in the way.”
“The desire to get people back into business managers is almost universal,” he added. “It’s the ability to do this that varies across countries.”
