Return-to-office mandates have 'serious negative effects' on workforce, study finds
Employers implementing return-to-office (RTO) mandates are reporting higher employee turnover rates and longer vacancy fill times, according to a new study.
The study analysed the effect of RTO mandates taken by S&P 500 firms in tracking over three million tech and finance workers' employment histories on LinkedIn.
"We find that these RTO firms experience higher employee turnover rates after announcing RTO mandates," the study stated.
The average turnover rate for RTO firms spiked by 14% after the mandates were announced, with employers likely to lose highly skilled staff.
"We further find that female employees, more senior employees, and employees with higher skill levels are more likely to leave RTO firms, consistent with RTO firms losing highly valuable employees," the study stated.
Lower hiring rate reported
Meanwhile, the study also discovered that organisations implementing RTO take a longer time to fill new job positions and have lower hiring rates.
"On average, the time it takes for an RTO firm to fill its job vacancies increases by approximately 23%, and the hire rate decreases by 17% after RTO mandates," the report stated.
"Taken together, our findings suggest that firms lose their best talent after RTO mandates and face significant difficulties replacing them."
The findings provide stronger proof of the impact of RTO mandates, which executives have been pushing after years of allowing remote work.
Amazon has made the headlines this year after announcing that it will implement full office return in 2025, sparking reports of employees considering jumping ship as a result of the mandate.
