‘Return to office’ mandates will see one-third of executives leave

A third of remote/hybrid working executives have warned that they would consider leaving if their employer mandated  a return to the office, according to a report from Gartner.

The report also found that 60% of executives admitted that the reasons given by their firms to return to work were fair enough, despite their own reluctance to come back.

Gartner’s report is the latest in a series looking at the impact of return to the office (RTO) mandates and whether they have an impact on attrition rates.

The survey found that even staff lower down the career ladder were pushing back on centralised office working, with  almost 20% of the non-executives polled adding that they would consider leaving if their employers issued an RTO mandate.

Flexible working policies are also impacting recruitment, with a third of senior-level job seekers saying their decision to leave an employer had been influenced by a potential RTO. A similar number said they had discontinued a hiring process due to expectations to attend an office in person.

The news presents a misalignment with HR leaders, the survey claims.

In Gartner’s survey of 170 HR leaders, over 60% reported an increased expectation around employees in the office, over a third said a mandated return was already in place, and just over 10% said the consequences of not meeting mandates have intensified.

“Retaining key talent has become harder due to mistrust between employees and employers, employee burnout and disengagement, and fiercer competition in the labour market,” said Caitlin Duffy, senior director in the Gartner HR practice.

“With RTO mandates influencing the job-seeking and loyalty of senior-level candidates and employees, organisations that force workers to come into the office are likely to weaken their leadership bench and complicate succession planning,” Duffy adds,

Sachin Agrawal, UK managing director at multinational technology firm Zoho, said: “Businesses should ‘motivate rather than mandate.’ Those who move towards mandating office-only working may find themselves contributing to another ‘Great Resignation’ trend.”