Essential Return-to-Office Statistics and Trends (2025)

Everyone is returning to the office in 2025.

At least, that’s what the headlines lead you to believe. This year’s news cycle has been dominated by major corporations announcing return-to-office mandates, but the statistics tell a different story. Only 27% of companies are expected to go back to fully in-person models by the end of 2025, and remote work as a whole is expected to remain virtually unchanged from 2024.

So, what’s the true state of remote work in America?

Companies cite improved productivity, collaboration, and easier management as reasons for returning to the office, but research on these benefits remains mixed. What’s clear, however, is that employees overwhelmingly prefer remote and hybrid arrangements and experience significantly better work-life balance because of them. Employers allowing flexible roles benefit from lower hiring costs and improved employee retention.

We’ve studied the data to see which companies have returned to the office in 2025, the current state of remote and hybrid work in America, and return-to-office trends for employers and employees to be aware of.

Key Return-to-Office Statistics for 2025

21.6% of US employees worked remotely, at least partially, in June 2025, down slightly from 22.3% in June 2024.
Hybrid roles are more common than full-remote jobs (53.1% of employees who work from home at least sometimes are in hybrid roles, compared to 46.9% who work fully remote).
27% of companies will have returned to a fully in-person model by the end of 2025. 67% of companies will offer some level of flexibility (hybrid work).
64% of US employees would prefer remote or hybrid roles over working from the office every day.
64% of remote workers would be “extremely likely” to look for other opportunities if their employer stopped allowing remote or hybrid work.
76% of companies experience greater employee retention by allowing remote work.
The leading reasons businesses cite for going back to the office include collaboration and teamwork (68%), productivity (64%), and communication (61%).
61% of US companies have formal RTO policies requiring employees to work from the office a minimum number of days each week.
47% of companies requiring a five-day office schedule plan to terminate or discipline employees who do not comply.
25% of executives and 18% of HR workers admit they hoped some employees would voluntarily leave because of an RTO mandate.

2025 Return-to-Office Mandates from Major Corporations

Following the rise of remote work during the covid-19 pandemic, many businesses ordered their employees back to work in 2023 and 2024. The list below includes high-profile RTO mandates impacting workers in 2025.

US Federal Government: In January 2025, President Trump ordered all federal employees to return to the office full-time (source).
Amazon: 350,000 Amazon employees were called back to the office full-time in January 2025 (source).
JP Morgan Chase: Ended remote work in April 2025 (source).
US Bank: Announced in March 2025 that hybrid and remote employees are required to work from the office at least 3 days per week (source).
AT&T: Required workers to be in the office 5 days per week starting in January 2025 (source).
Southwest: Requires 4 to 5 days per week in the office, announced in January 2025 (source).
IBM: Executives and managers must be in the office at least 3 days per week. Remote employees must relocate if they live more than 50 miles from the nearest office (source).
Dell: Workers must be in the office 5 days per week, as of March 2025 (source).
3M: Employees must work from the office at least 4 days per week, beginning in September 2025 (source).
Uber: As of April 2025, employees are required to be in the office at least 3 days per week (source).
Washington Post: Eliminated hybrid and remote roles in 2025 (source).

Other companies have increased the amount of working hours in the office (typically requiring 3-4 days per week) for hybrid roles. This includes Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, X, Netflix, Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, and others (source: Colliers).

The RTO mandates of major corporations and the federal government have had a trickle-down effect:

54% of businesses say that they have been at least somewhat influenced by major corporations returning to the office.
35% of businesses say they’ve been influenced by the federal government’s return to office.

Source: ResumeTemplates

How many companies are returning to the office?

The RTOs of major corporations have dominated the headlines, which might lead you to believe that remote work is dying. Statistics, however, show that hybrid and remote work is still extremely common.

27% of companies will have returned to a fully in-person model by the end of 2025.
67% of companies will offer some level of flexibility (hybrid work).
6% of businesses will be fully remote through the end of 2025.

59% of companies with fully in-office work policies said they will allow some hybrid positions. However, 20% of those companies said they will pay hybrid employees less than their in-office coworkers.

Source: ResumeTemplates

How many Americans work remotely in 2025?

21.6% of US employees worked remotely, at least partially, in June 2025. This includes 19.1% of men and 24.6% of women.

Slightly less than half of remote workers (46.9%) work all of their hours remotely. The other 53.1% are in hybrid roles where the spend some of their hours in the office and others are worked remotely.

With all of the high-profile RTOs, you might expect that remote work would be significant down in 2025 compared to prior years. However, statistics show that’s not the case. The table below shows the percentage of Americans who worked remotely in each month since 2023. As you can see, remote work is still more common in 2025 than it was in 2023, and is down only slightly from 2024.

Percentage of People Who Teleworked by Month

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2023	19.4	20.0	19.5	18.5	18.9	19.0	19.9	19.5	19.8	19.8	20.5	21.9
2024	22.9	22.7	23	21.5	21.7	22.3	23	22.8	23.7	23.8	23.3	23.1
2025	23.6	23.7	22.8	21.6	21.5	21.6

Source: BLS

How many Americans want to work remotely?

RTO mandates go against most workers’ preferences, and the statistics are clear. Below, you’ll find many different reports that show the same thing: Americans want the flexibility to work in hybrid or remote roles.

64% of US employees would prefer remote or hybrid roles over working from the office every day. Here are the top choices:

Fully remote: 36%
Hybrid: 28%
Fully in the office: 27%
Not sure: 9%

(Source: YouGov)

The preference for flexibility is strong enough that most remote workers would look for another job if they were required to go back to the office. 64% of remote workers would be “extremely likely” to look for other opportunities if their employer stopped allowing remote or hybrid work (source: Gallup).

The preference is also strong enough that many people would take less money for a remote or hybrid job. 52% of employees said they would take a 20% pay cut to achieve a lifestyle that prioritizes their quality of life (source: Ford).

Companies risk losing employees with RTO mandates. But high-performing employees are the most likely to leave, deepening the impact on employers. High-performing employees are 16% more likely to have a low intent to stay in their jobs if they face an RTO mandate (source: Gartner).

The impact on employee retention isn’t theoretical. Many companies have already lost workers as a result of decreased flexibility. A 2024 study showed that 80% of companies already reported losing talent because of RTO mandates (source: Resume Builder).

Even if employees don’t leave immediately after an RTO, job satisfaction may be negatively impacted. 91% of Amazon employees were dissatisfied with the company’s RTO mandate (source: Blind).

Remote and hybrid jobs generate far more interest from applications, compared to fully in-office roles. Only 20% of job listings on LinkedIn are remote or hybrid, but they receive 60% of the applications (source: ERE).

A study by BambooHR showed the preferences by generation, with younger workers being the least likely to prefer remote work. Here are the percentages of employees who prefer to work in the office:

Gen Z – 46%
Baby Boomers – 42%
Gen X – 40%
Millennials – 37%

(Source: BambooHR)

Why are companies going back to the office?

Companies cite several reasons for returning to the office. There are the most common contributing factors:

68% – Foster collaboration and teamwork
64% – Improved productivity
61% – Enhanced communication
50% – Easier management of employees
45% – Improved company culture

(Source: ResumeTemplates)

While it’s not among the reasons companies publicly list for returning to the office, voluntary attrition is often a contributing factor. 25%of executives and 18% of HR workers admit they hoped some employees would voluntarily leave because of an RTO mandate. In these cases, RTOs can be viewed as passive layoffs (source: BambooHR).

Policies on hybrid and remote work can be a source of tension among company leaders. 74% of surveyed HR professionals said that RTO mandates have led to leadership conflicts (source: Gartner).

Will companies enforce RTO policies?

RTO mandates force employees to make a decision. Many wonder if, or how, these policies will be enforced.

47% of companies requiring a five-day office schedule plan to terminate or discipline employees who do not comply.
34% of businesses have already implemented badge tracking and attendance monitoring.
32% of companies with factor in-office attendance into performance evaluations.
29% of businesses say they consider office presence for promotions and pay increases.

(Source: ResumeTemplates)

What risks (for employees) come with hybrid or remote work?

Many remote workers lack job security. 28% of remote workers feel they’ll be laid off before their in-office coworkers (source: BambooHR).

In a study from 2022, when most companies were working remotely, a surprising 96% of executives said they noticed the contributions of employees coming into the office more than remote workers. This is more common with male executives than with females. Only 3% of males said they notice contributions of remote workers, compared to 8% of female execs (source: Envoy).

Employees feel the need to look busy. 88% of remote workers and 79% of in-office workers said they go out of their way to look busy. For remote workers, the most common tactics are leaving messaging apps open to show an active status (64%), social conversations in messaging apps (39%), and sending emails (31%). For in-office workers, the tricks include walking around the office to be seen (37%). planning meetings with coworkers (35%), and arriving earlier or leaving later than their supervisor (33%) (source: BambooHR).

Are in-office employees more productive than remote workers?

When it comes to the effectiveness of in-office work vs. remote work, studies show mixed results. A Lending Tree survey showed that 39% of remote workers have used hacks to make it look like they were working when they were not (source: Lending Tree). And of course, most companies issuing return-to-office mandates say that increased productivity from the office is a contributing factor.

However, many studies and surveys show that remote workers are actually more productive and able to work with deeper focus.

A report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics says, “our results suggest that the rise in remote work and TFP [total factor productivity] growth are positively correlated” (source: BLS).

A two-year study of 800,000 employees found “working from home can be just as productive, if not more so, than traditional office setups.” The same report points to leadership as a more significant factor impacting productivity than location of the workers (source Great Place to Work).

An Owl Labs 2024 study of 2,000 full-time workers found that 90% of hybrid workers say they are just as or more product when working in a hybrid role compared to being in the office full-time (source: Owl Labs).

A study conducted by BambooHR found that 56% of employees who prefer remote work feel they are more productive working from home. A lack of distractions from coworkers contributes to the increased productivity as 39% of workers say they accomplish less in the office because of socializing with coworkers (source: BambooHR).

Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom found that “employees who work from home for two days a week are just as productive and as likely to be promoted as their fully office-based peers.” He also found that workers with a hybrid schedule were 33% less likely than full-time in-office workers to resign (source: Stanford).

The mental health impact of remote work

While productivity studies show mixed results, there’s no denying that hybrid and remote roles provide mental health benefits and an improved work-life balance.

76% of full-time remote and hybrid workers experience improved work-life balance, and 61% experience less burnout or fatigue (source: Gallup)

Benefits of remote work for companies

Employees aren’t the only ones who benefit from flexible work arrangements.

76% of companies experience greater employee retention by allowing remote work.
84% of companies believe that offering remote work allows them to fill roles that they couldn’t otherwise fill.
78% of companies experience increased employee engagement through remote work because of improved work-life balance.

Source: WTW

Looking forward

The return-to-office trend of 2025 represents a significant shift in corporate policy, but the data suggests that flexible work arrangements will remain a permanent feature of the American workplace. Major corporations have grabbed headlines with strict RTO mandates, but most companies continue to offer some form of flexibility, recognizing both employee preferences and the business benefits of remote work.

Companies implementing strict RTO policies risk significant talent loss, while those maintaining flexibility will benefit from better retention and engagement.