(Image credit: Getty Images)This is shaping up to be the year that thousands of U.S. workers will need to put away their soft pants and return to the office — at least for a couple of days a week.A summer 2024 survey of chief executive officers by accounting firm KPMG found a sharp turnaround in views toward remote work. More than three-fourths of CEOs expect employees to return to a traditional in-office schedule within three years. Earlier in 2024, only one-third of CEOs predicted a return to an in-office model. Only 17% of CEOs expect their employees to have a hybrid schedule, and just 4% expect their employees to be fully remote, according to the summer survey.The news isn’t all bad for the comfy-pants crowd. Eighty-six percent of CEOs said they would reward employees who return to the office with favorable assignments, raises and promotions. And research by the Flex Index, a technology research firm based in San Francisco, found that while the number of companies that allow a fully flexible workforce has declined since 2023, the percentage of companies that use a hybrid model increased in 2024.Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal FinanceBe a smarter, better informed investor.
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Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-NewslettersProfit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your e-mail.Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice – straight to your e-mail.Employers’ willingness to allow their employees to work from home, at least some of the time, also varies significantly by industry, according to research by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, who has studied remote work for more than two decades. Workers in the technology and finance industry, for example, work from home an average of 2.39 days a week, while workers in the hospitality, transportation and retail industry work from home less than one day a week, according to Bloom’s research.Do workers want to return to the office?Companies that mandate a return to the office face pushback from employees who place a high value on a flexible work schedule.A 2024 workplace benefits survey by Charles Schwab found that many workers say having a flexible work schedule is an important benefit, particularly for younger workers. Fifty-seven percent of workers said they would forgo anywhere from 5% to 15% of a salary increase in exchange for a more flexible work arrangement. The survey also found that the ability to work from home was a must-have benefit for 27% of men and 36% of women, and more than half of Generation Z workers and 46% of millennials viewed flexibility in work hours and location as an essential benefit.A survey by Payscale, a compensation consulting and research firm, found that more than 60% of companies with return-to-office mandates have encountered resistance from their employees. Payscale’s research also revealed that providing flexible work arrangements can help companies attract an
