2024 has been a year of transition towards presence. Many companies have increased the number of days that their employees must work from their offices, and have even opted for a 100% in-person model like the one adopted by Amazon.
A recent study of the University of Pittsburgh revealed that these policies have triggered unusually high employee turnover among S&P 500 companies: that of the most qualified employees.
Talent doesn’t want to go to the office. The researchers analyzed the behavior of three million employees working in 54 companies that participate in the S&P 500 Index. Among their conclusions, the authors highlight the correlation between the resignation of highly qualified employees and the tightening of return policies. the offices in those companies.
“These results are consistent with companies losing top talent and female employees and facing greater difficulty attracting talent following orders to return to the office. Our study highlights brain drain as a significant cost of return-to-office mandates, even for the world’s largest companies,” the study’s authors explained.
Hiring Stagnates, Turnover Soars. Analyzing the LinkedIn profile of more than three million employees of these companies, the researchers discovered that the change to a more in-person model in companies also had negative effects on their hiring processes.
After the implementation of these policies, the time to fill vacancies in positions left by the best qualified employees increased on average by 23%. On the other hand, the hiring rate fell by 17%. That is, companies never replaced the employee who had resigned. This reinforces the perception that companies face greater difficulties in attracting new talent after reducing labor flexibility.
Returning to the office as a show of power. The study concludes that all the inconveniences posed by returning to the office do nothing but harm the company, which is why they assure that the real reason behind this measure is not the improvement in productivity. “Managers use the back-to-office mandate to seize power and blame employees for poor performance,” the report concluded.
another study by researchers Mark Ma and Yu Ye Ding for the University of Pittsburgh published a year ago, reached a similar conclusion in this regard. It ruled out a drop in productivity in those companies that had been working remotely, and no improvement was seen after returning to the in-person model.
Many suspected it, Elon Musk confirmed it. a survey conducted by the business software platform BambooHR, revealed that 18% of managers acknowledged having used return-to-office policies to “get rid” of part of the workforce, forcing their resignation and saving their severance pay. 37% admit that the move did not go well at all.
Elon Musk has not been as discreet as managers, and has openly stated in an article of the WSJ that, from the new Doge department that Vivek Ramaswamy will lead together, teleworking will be prohibited for all officials, and thus cause “voluntary dismissals” to reduce the number of officials.
Some employees choose to ignore them. A october report published by the employment platform Resume Builder reveals that, although 78% comply with orders to return to their company’s offices, one in five employees admits not complying with these rules.
Furthermore, more than 50% of those surveyed said they would resign if their company imposed strict compliance with these measures. These figures highlight a cultural change where work flexibility is no longer seen as a benefit, but as an expectation to take into account when applying for a new job or as a positive point when considering a change of job.
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Image | Unsplash (Marvin Meyer)