Success·return to officeBosses admit they’re using return-to-office mandates to trim down teams—without needing to announce layoffsBy Jessica CoacciBy Jessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica Coacci is a reporting fellow at Fortune where she covers success.
Prior to joining Fortune, she worked as a ducer at CNN and CNBC.SEE FULL BIO Companies are leaning on RTO mandates to shrink headcount without calling it a layoff.
But workers jumping ship might not find safer ground.alvaro gonzalez-Getty ImagesAs RTO mandates ramp up, many U.S.
companies are using in-person requirements to quietly reduce headcount without formal layoffs.
Nearly 3 in 10 companies will require five days a week in the office by the end of 2025, despite almost half of workers saying they’d quit if remote work disappeared.
Meanwhile, white-collar job growth has stalled, with sectors healthcare and hospitality leading hiring gains instead.
Employees may think quitting in response to their company’s RTO mandate is a solid retaliatory reaction to their bosses, but it may actually be just what companies need.
Rather than trimming down headcounts by enforcing layoffs, leaders from across the U.S. told the Federal Reserve Beige Book they’re hoping that upping their in-person requirements will do the job.
The Fed Beige Book report, published eight times a year, summarizes current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts.
It is based on interviews with leaders, economists, and other local s for a real-time look at the economy.
The report highlighted that multiple districts this month have “encouraged” attrition with return-to-office mandates.
A separate survey of 849 managers reveals 3 in 10 companies will require employees to work in-office five days a week by the end of the year, driven by corporate shifts and new regulations.
Meanwhile, more than half of Fortune 100 desk workers already have workplaces with fully in-office policies, according to new data from real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle.
Just yesterday, giant Microsoft said its employees will be required to go back into the office 3 days per week.
Though Microsoft has had rounds of letting people go this year, Amy Coleman, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, assured employees in a memo yesterday “this is not reducing headcount,” and instead is “ working together in a way that enables us to meet our customers’ needs.” Workers aren’t sold on badging in—but the grass may not be greener on the other side Almost half of workers say that if their employer no longer allowed them to work from , they would be unly to stay at their job, including a quarter who say they’d be very unly to stay, according to a 2025 poll by Pew Re Center.
But even for the workerks who ditch their jobs in response to more days commuting to the office, the grass might not be greener on the other side of the corporate job market.
Across the white collar job market, employment has looked increasingly frozen for job seekers.
Non-degree earners bartenders and baristas in hospitality jobs are seeing bigger wage growth than office workers right now, as demand for in-person job experiences has surged post-pandemic.
Another nail in the coffin? AI. The Fed’s Beige Book also referenced the nology that is assisting organizations with silently trimming down headcount.
Bosses have previously admitted RTO mandates were to make staff quit, but some workers are ignoring the new rules Though the Fed’s re was published last week, it’s not the first time CEO’s have admitted RTO mandates were meant to make staff quit.
In 2024, a survey of over 1500 U.S.
managers found that a quarter of C-suite executives hoped for some voluntary turnover among workers after implementing a RTO policy—with one in five HR fessionals admitting their in-office policy was meant to make staff quit.
But even though bosses are the ones making their staff come back in, they’re the ones who are notably zooming in on in-person meetings themselves.
In fact, 93% of CEOs say they don’t go into the office full-time and have instead adopted flexible working patterns.
And despite employers sending out memos on new mandates, a report from Resume Builder found that 1 in 5 workers are ignoring their new in-person policies too. Fortune Global Forum returns Oct.
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