Office attendance has been creeping up and has now hit 62% of the average 2019 in-office attendance.
The latest findings from a database of workplace attendance by region and by industry are in: They reveal that RTO is on an upward trajectory, despite research suggesting some CEOs are embracing flexible working.
However, employees are working more flexible hours, and moving away from a strictly traditional 9-to-5 working model.
The RTO Trend Is Set to Continue
The data has been collated by water dispenser company Bevi, with the key findings shared in a blog by the company’s co-founder & CEO, Sean Grundy.
He says that the attendance figures are only 2% lower than his team predicted at the start of the year.
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But the bounce back will continue. He shares: “While we initially forecasted 9% growth in office attendance from last year to this year, we now anticipate surpassing that by five percentage points, reaching 69% of pre-pandemic attendance by the end of 2024.”
Tech Companies Are Leading the RTO Push
The team divided office spaces into four categories, tracking attendance from 2023 to the first half of this year. They found that the biggest bump up (at 11%) was for people working in the technology industry.
Companies including Dell have put strict RTO policies in place – and seen a dramatic dip in morale as a result.
A close second was “Finance & Insurance” with a 10% RTO rate, followed by “Manufacturing” with a 6% increase.
The percentage increase for those working in the Professional, Scientific & Technical category was 3%, while the arguably more progressive Arts, Entertainment & Recreation companies struck even.
Which Cities Are Seeing the Biggest Changes?
Los Angeles and Boston have seen the biggest bump in RTO figures. Grundy points to the new hybrid work policy put into place for State workers in California as having an impact. This mandate to be in the office for at least two days a week will have impacted 240,000 but is also sure to have set a precedent for other organizations.
In Boston, the team points to city planning as a key driver. Boston’s mixed-use developments – blending offices with residential spaces – mean that it’s quicker and easier for employees to get to work, so the draw of going into the office is higher.
More Time in the Office… But With Flexible Hours
The data also revealed that US workers are most likely to be in the office on a Tuesday, with Mondays and Fridays lagging behind for attendance. Interestingly, the Bevi team created a separate category for AI companies and found that employees at these companies had “a more balanced presence throughout the week,” compared to non-AI technology companies.
The hours that employees are working in the office are also shifting. In 2019, only 13% of employees worked between 5 pm and 9 am — a statistic that now sits at 20%.
This, says Grundy, reflects that employees are working more flexibly, even in the office, and are fitting their hours around everyday life, including running errands, avoiding traffic and family duties.
The report suggests that the RTO trend is not going away. There is still hope that employees can claw back some flexibility by working in the office but also taking time during the day for personal commitments.