Why Companies FORCE People Back In The Office

The rise of remote work has transformed the traditional workplace, offering millions of employees greater flexibility and a more balanced approach to their professional and personal lives. Yet, many companies are mandating a return to the office, sparking widespread debate about the motivations behind these policies. While work from home jobs have demonstrated that productivity and collaboration can thrive without physical presence, the push to reinstate office-centric work reveals deeper economic and cultural dynamics.

The office has historically been more than a workspace—it’s a symbol of corporate authority, control, and identity. For decades, physical presence in the office was seen as synonymous with dedication, productivity, and professional value. This perception has been difficult to shake, even as remote work has proven its effectiveness. Many leaders view the office as a way to maintain oversight and reinforce traditional hierarchies, a structure that remote work inherently challenges.

Economic factors also play a significant role. The commercial real estate sector, valued at trillions of dollars, is heavily reliant on bustling office spaces. Empty buildings translate to plummeting property values, strained relationships with landlords, and weakened local economies. Businesses tied to office culture—such as restaurants, transportation, and retail—are also struggling to recover as workers continue to embrace hybrid or remote setups. Companies, therefore, face mounting pressure to bring employees back, not only to support their own operations but also to sustain the broader economic ecosystem dependent on office spaces.

For many organizations, the return to the office isn’t just about collaboration or culture—it’s a response to the financial implications of underutilized spaces and missed opportunities tied to tax incentives and subsidies. Commercial real estate is deeply intertwined with business strategy, and many companies are trying to safeguard their investments by reestablishing office-based work as the norm.

Despite these motivations, the demand for flexibility from the modern workforce remains strong. Work from home jobs have highlighted the inefficiencies of traditional office setups, from wasted commute times to distractions within the workplace. Many employees are reluctant to return to a system that often prioritizes appearances over actual productivity.

The debate over remote work and return-to-office mandates underscores a broader struggle to reconcile traditional business practices with the evolving needs of the workforce. As the push to bring workers back continues, questions about the true purpose of the office, the role of commercial real estate, and the balance between innovation and tradition remain at the forefront of this ongoing conversation.

0:00 Intro
0:20 How The Office Became The Center Of The Modern Workforce
1:57 Why Managers Want A Return To The Office
3:55 How Office Loans Destroying The Economy
7:47 A Personal Story Of “Company Culture”
10:38 Why I Believe This Force To Return To The Office Is A Mass Layoff
12:34 How This Is Becoming A Defining Moment For The History Of Work

#financialeducation #financialfreedom #workfromhome

Titles for the Algo!
Why Companies Hate Work From Home Jobs
Why Employers Hate Remote Work Jobs
Why Employers Hate Work From Home Jobs
Why Companies Hate Remote Work Jobs
Why Companies Are Forcing People Back Into The Office

[kxht]

They want to see you work in the office, but will lay you off with an email.

[haraldwerner]

If workers controlled their work what would the managers be responsible for? That’s part of the reason why they want workers back in the office.

[What_do_I_Think]

What most companies MISS:

The best people GO FIRST. And than things get messy.

[Dexeyz]

What's that? You don't want to wake up an extra hour earlier than you have to, just to sit in traffic for an hour there and back from work? Put miles on your car? Pay gas? Tolls? Car insurance? Well, that's too bad, because we already paid for this expensive skyscraper lease for the next 10 years, and it's going to look bad to shareholders if we have an office that is only 20% full year round...plus! Who am I going to micromanage? How will I have to justify my job to my manager? -some middle manager somewhere on why you have to go back in person.

Also, culture doesn't pay my rent, but not having to pay gas, and get time back in my day is something essential to me personally. You can't buy back time you have already wasted.

[th_CAV_Trooper]

A guy who works for my client commutes for two hours into Manhattan every day. Two hours to get to an office where he Zooms with the five of us on the team who live in different cities and countries and who all work from home. Work from office in 2024 is idiotic.

[EveloGrave]

During the pandemic I was employed from home. It was awesome. I made sure to check my tasks for the day and do them asap. New task was given, boom done easy peasy. After I finished I rotated in my chair 90 degrees and played games on my personal computer. Ding! Ope new task, pause rotate complete task, rotate. I was happy, tasks were being completed, I was happy.
Then we had to return to office. I got a task, did it, then just sat there with nothing to occupy the LONG downtime between tasks. I brought this up after a week and was told that is normal and to just wait around. So I bought a Switch just so I could play something in between tasks. I was eventually fired because I was seen not working, despite all my tasks being completed asap as reported by my manager. But big ol upper management saw me chilling and couldn't have that! No no no.

[PicardoFamily]

Most highly wealthy people are wealthy because of Real Estate. All of their properties have had huge valuations that have been used to borrow huge sums of money. Now people are realizing that these properties aren't nearly as valuable.

And I've done the "company culture" and "collaboration" stuff plenty of times before. Spent a bunch of extra time to build relationships with co-workers. What did it get me? Nothing.

[SetariM]

Man that story about your boss declining that offer FOR YOU is just... terrible. Middle managers are 99% terrible people.

[stonefacedninja]

Sounds like a bunch of sociopathic middle managers could not stand not having total control over employees despite them being more productive at home. Another good point made is the economy that exists from the rat race into the office daily. Parking fees aren't being paid, less $5 cups of coffee being sold, etc.

[SomeUniqueHandle]

1) Tax incentives. A lot of large businesses got tax breaks by employing people in a particular location because it "energized the downtown" by getting people to drive in (thus needing to buy gas) and eat at restaurants (because a lot of people don't like to pack lunches and some companies don't supply refridgerators in office.) If they don't get people in seats at the office, they may need to repay those tax incentives.

2) Inability to measure outcomes. Is that person at home really working or are they goofing off? A lot of places can't tell the difference so making people come to the office makes managers feel better because they can watch people.

3) Outdated incentives. It's hard to convince someone to work harder because "some day they might get a corner office" if their view from home is much nicer.

4) Real estate. Some of the C Suite have commercial real estate holdings or have things like REITs in their portfolio. If everyone forces their employees back to work then they boost each other's earnings.

5) Lazy managers. If one person on a team of twenty is unproductive at home, it's easier to tell everyone to come in rather than deal with the one slacker.

6) Lay-offs by another name. You don't have to announce lay-offs, pay severance, etc., if employees quit on their own. Just tell everyone RTO, even those that literally don't have an office within hundreds of miles of their home, and then it's not your fault when employees quit. Sure, you may lose some of your best but it looks better than admitting you don't have enough work for the employees you have (or that you want to squeeze more profit from the work that you have).

7) Accounting mumbo-jumbo. If you have an empty building, it's a liability on your profit sheet. If that building is full of people, it's a normal expense. You're still paying for the building either way, but you look better if there are people in it, even if the cost is higher in the long run due to AC, water usage, etc.

8) Prestige/Power. Some managers, especially C Suite, love to walk around and see all the people who work under them. You can't do that when your people are working from home.

9) Extroverts. I strongly suspect upper management and C Suite are overrepresented by extroverts. They literally don't understand how not being around people all day long is better for some people. They thrive on crowds and continually being in contact with others so they think everyone else is better off that way as well.

10) Keeping employees in fear. What else will the company take away if people say anything?

[infini.tesimo]

This is why I work tirelessly on developing remote first skills because these companies one way or another are going to fold to the way things are going. People would rather go jobless for months on end than ever step foot in an office or work retail again.

[reneevoicebrand]

Without employees to manage, middle managers aren't needed which means there is no buffer between the peons and the kings.

[steveoc]

What a choice

Stay remote - get Fired
Return to office - get Fried

Same letters, just rearranged

Would rather get Fired than Fried

[ardentdrops]

My entire team is based in another state. But, my company laid off all the remote workers. So, I wake up an hour early to spend time in stressful traffic, to pay for my own parking, and even more time outside of work preparing lunches (when I used to make lunch during my break), just so I can do exactly what I already did when I was working from home and open my laptop and join virtual meetings all day. Except now I have to do it in a cramped and sterile cubicle.

[danielskrivan]

I got hired with a company to work fully remote. I signed a contract on a house 45 miles away, thinking, "If I have to go in once a month for an all-hands meeting or a team lunch, that's fine." Shortly after they started bringing us back into the office. I get all my tasks done before most everyone else shows up. I'm micromanaged to the point that I just sit and wait for the next task. They get mad if I'm sitting and waiting so I have to act busy. Without doing busywork (not allowed) or look like I'm just acting busy. I actually have a lot of work I could get done, but I'm not authorized to. So I sit and wait.

The "culture" at my job is fear and depression. There's no community events. The President of the company literally scolded me and another worker for laughing while we were waiting for folks to show up to a meeting (literally said fun isn't allowed there). Everyone's either afraid they're going to be thrown under the bus, is looking for folks to throw under the bus, or both.

[theplaintiff]

You weren’t declined to “support the lunch rush”. You were declined because your manager felt threatened by you getting that level of access.

Corporations are rarely about work or productivity. It’s 90% of the time about perception and intrigue. The lunch introduced an interesting political dynamic that your manager didn’t like.

[matthewrank]

I slug through traffic. Pay for parking, prepare a lunch just to sit in a cubicle on zoom with a bunch of our remote employees who dont spend 2 hours in their cars everyday. And they dont even turn thier cameras on

[sarahrosen]

Listening to lectures and reading books about the Bronze Age collapse: "Many towns and cities were wholly intact expect for the palaces and government buildings. Hard to explain why an *invading* outisde group would only target the elite."

Me, listening quiet, nodding my head and sharpening my pitch fork: "Yep, can't imagine who or why a group would target the managing elites."

[simplyfundamental]

I’m waiting to see how many days my employer wants us back. They say they want us back because of collaboration. But my bosses are on the road. I agree it’s a way to cut the workforce. They know it will lead to attrition. But it will end up leading to the wrong people leaving. Those who are highly marketable will be easily able to get new jobs. And then there are those, like me, who will choose to retire early. I’ll struggle to give up years of true work-life balance. Thankfully I’ve saved and invested during my working career so I have choices. Everyone should. Great videos. You’re on the road to true wealth. Best of luck.

[RandomPeasant]

It's about domination and control