Forced RTO: Surprising Lessons From Newest Data

Headlines about high-profile companies requiring employees to cease working from home and return to corporate offices suggest that the shift is widespread, but research tells a different story. In this follow-up to his popular November 2024 interview, workplace expert Brian Elliott shares new data on and examples of what’s really happening with flexible work in […]

Apr 30, 2025 - 12:01

Forced RTO: Surprising Lessons From Newest Data

Headlines about high-profile companies requiring employees to cease working from home and return to corporate offices suggest that the shift is widespread, but research tells a different story. In this follow-up to his popular November 2024 interview, workplace expert Brian Elliott shares new data on and examples of what’s really happening with flexible work in 2025.

For instance, according to a recent report, 68% of organizations continue to maintain flexible policies. What’s more, U.K. research shows that employees with flexibility are up to 12% more productive, and a University of Melbourne study found that publicly held companies with flexible policies financially tend to outperform their peers on the stock market.

In this video, you’ll learn:

How pairing choice about where and when to work with accountability for results drives productivity, as demonstrated by Neiman Marcus Group.
How innovative companies are extending flexibility to front-line workers.
What questions leaders must ask before implementing RTO mandates.
Strategies for building trust in uncertain times.

For more information on the real effects of RTO mandates, read the full article “RTO Mandates Won’t Fix a Broken Culture.”

Video Credits

Brian Elliott is an executive adviser and speaker. He’s the CEO of Work Forward and author of the Work Forward newsletter.

Leslie Brokaw is a contributing editor at MIT Sloan Management Review.

M. Shawn Read is the multimedia editor at MIT Sloan Management Review.