Dive Brief:
- Leaders should assess what aspect of the work experience — workplace connection, worker well-being, workforce retention — they want to focus on before deciding to issue a return-to-office mandate, according to research from the University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Colorado Boulder. In this vein, researchers found that remote workers reported the highest levels of well-being, according to an analysis of more than 7,700 responses from hybrid, remote and in-person workers.
- Researchers also found that employee connection rates were similar across work arrangements and that rates of employee well-being — not the location of the work — were most highly correlated with worker retention.
- Why is this crucial? “These findings challenge assumptions that remote work undermines connection and retention. Instead, they suggest that remote work can support well-being and that well-being, not proximity, is a key factor in employee retention,” researchers said in an abstract.
Dive Insight:
From the initial COVID-19 lockdown to the current RTO push, employers have had plenty of evidence illustrating remote work’s perceived benefits at their fingertips — something the researchers acknowledged in their study.
Citing their sources, researchers said of remote work, “Early narratives stated ‘it was here to stay,’ emphasizing the potential benefits of remote and hybrid work arrangements for honoring employee well-being and expectations. To that end, employee expectations have shifted significantly, with many now actively expecting remote or hybrid work options as a standard component of employment.”
Now, in a year where retention is top of mind for employers, conversations highlighting the benefits of remote work may be crucial. And yet, as the researchers noted, “recent reversals, such as organizational and governmental mandates for full returns to onsite work, have emerged despite limited empirical evidence assessing the consequences or benefits of such policies.”
Even heading into fall, employers are issuing RTO-related mandates. For example, Bank of America just announced a rule where employees can’t work remotely for two consecutive business days, effective next month and building on its pre-existing, three-day, in-office work rule.
“These abrupt shifts highlight unresolved questions about the psychological and social impacts of flexible work: specifically, questions remain on whether remote and hybrid work environments affect employee well-being, and to what extent remote work is inherently isolating,” researchers said.
Still, many employers are holding on to flexible work arrangements, specifically to attract talent — even in a job landscape where remote or hybrid work is a coveted nice-to-have. Meanwhile, workers surveyed by MyPerfectResume in December 2025 said they would not quit over an RTO mandate in a departure from post-lockdown sentiments.
But this change in attitude from workers may be fallout from an evolving economic landscape, where practices like “job hugging” prevail. Workplace experts have pointed out that, even if voluntary turnover falls due to job hugging, the loyalty that results from “job hugging” isn’t genuine. As the future of work takes shape, HR professionals will continue to have to weigh the pros and cons of each kind of working arrangement, and their implications on both worker well-being and the business bottom line.