Forcing employees to return to the office has caused companies to lose their best employees
- Employees are more likely to leave a company after the introduction of an RTO policy, claims report
- Companies find it slower and more difficult to hire people when they have an office mandate
- The researchers believe that RTOs are expensive for companies and harmful to employees
New data collected by researchers from universities in the US and China has confirmed that return-to-office (RTO) policies are pushing some of the most skilled and experienced employees to quit their jobs.
The ‘Return-to-Office Mandates and Brain Drain’ report tracked more than three million employees from technical and finance roles via LinkedIn to observe when they changed roles in response to changes in company policies, noting that companies with strict RTO mandates saw higher employee turnover.
Furthermore, companies that insist on office work may find it more difficult to rehire staff as potential employees value flexibility.
Employees want to work remotely
The researchers found that employee turnover increased by an average of 14% after the introduction of RTO mandates. Senior and highly qualified employees were most affected by these changes and are also the most difficult to replace.
It was found that female employees are three times more likely to leave a company due to the pressures of office work, with researchers largely putting this down to increased family responsibilities.
On average, it now takes companies 23% more time to recruit new employees, while overall hiring rates have fallen by 17%.
The study concluded: “Our evidence suggests that RTO mandates are costly to businesses and have serious negative consequences for the workforce.”
The news comes amid an ongoing push towards full-time office work, a trend largely reflected in the technology sector. Dell recently announced that its employees would have to go to the office full-time. Amazon also confirmed similar plans.
At the same time, studies continue to be published showing that employees prefer the flexibility of hybrid and remote working. We also recently reported that more than three in five employees are hybrid workers.