Study: RTO mandates are making it harder for companies to hire

The debate over return to office (RTO) doesn’t seem to be going away. Many companies have opted for a hybrid model that allows employees to still work from home a couple days a week, while some major employers have introduced strict mandates that require workers to fully return to the office, five days a week. Despite persistent pushback from employees, plenty of companies still seem to be bullish about bringing workers back to the office.

But that doesn’t mean employers haven’t experienced any fallout from imposing return-to-office mandates. In a new study, which tracked three million LinkedIn profiles, researchers found that RTO mandates across S&P 500 companies significantly increased turnover among tech and finance workers. Those effects were even more pronounced for women—having three times the impact among female employees than male—and employees who were more senior or highly skilled.”

Experts have long warned that RTO mandates could disproportionately impact women and employees with caregiving responsibilities, along with others in the workforce who benefited from the flexibility of remote work, including neurodivergent employees and those with disabilities. Other research has corroborated that top senior talent in the tech industry—across companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and SpaceX—have jumped ship as a result of RTO requirements, finding that, in many cases, they left to work for competitors.

The study also concluded that strict RTO policies have made it more difficult for companies to fill positions in response to employee turnover, and that the rate of hiring has dropped overall. After introducing RTO mandates, it took companies 23% longer—or 12 additional days—to fill open roles. It’s possible that employers are also hiring less, or potentially using these mandates to increase attrition and trim head count; some companies and leaders have admitted as much. But the researchers argue that the extended hiring times suggest companies are also having a harder time attracting new talent because of in-office expectations.

On the whole, these findings reflect the broader consensus about RTO mandates among workers. Many are unhappy about having to return full-time to the office; losing the ability to work from home as needed makes them more likely to leave for a job that promises such flexibility. It’s also clear, as this study illustrates, that these policies take a toll on employee morale and incur additional costs due to turnover. But companies don’t seem likely to change course anytime soon.