How workers win office-return fights

The deadlock may persist even in the face of layoffs. Ryan Luby, senior expert and associate partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company, based in New York, says although a rise in unemployment may provide employers greater leverage that leads to a bump in office attendance, workers’ expectations for flexibility are here to stay. He cites a July 2022 McKinsey survey of 13,532 global workers showing that flexibility is behind only salary in motivators to stay in a role. “In a world working flexibly, commuting time is handed back to the employee for work, rest and leisure. Then combine that with the office destination: if that’s not fantastic, and no better than working from a kitchen table and being able to sleep for longer, then people won’t want to go in.”