In an RTO world, who gets to WFH?
The great return-to-office push in both the public and private sectors has led to an unexpected side effect: a growing class divide around who gets to keep their workaday uniform of sweatpants and flip-flops.
A recent survey of 1,314 adults in the U.S. by The Harris Poll for the job site Indeed paints a stark picture of a working world where flexibility, including the right to work remotely, is becoming the golden ticket of the privileged few.
Since the pandemic, the demand for remote work has declined precipitously, with fewer than 9% of all job listings on Indeed offering remote or hybrid options. And yet, the appetite for remote work hasn’t waned, with about 4 in 10 job seekers saying they are specifically targeting such positions. More telling still, while 7 in 10 employees who have received return orders claim they’re OK with it, 6 in 10 admit to quietly applying for remote work.
Your chances of landing that coveted WFH role largely depend on your industry and pay grade. If you happen to work in tech, your odds jump to nearly 34%, while banking and finance (23%) and marketing (26%) aren’t far behind. Meanwhile, customer service reps and psychotherapists, largely remote positions during the pandemic, are among the many workers being called back to their desks, with the share of remote job listings for such roles plummeting to about 7% each.
“There is a level of hypocrisy with the recent RTO mandates that has swept through the workplace,” said Doug Dennerline, CEO of performance management platform Betterworks, adding that remote work has become a luxury of the “talent elite.” The survey data backs that up: the lower your salary and education level, the more likely you are to be summoned back to the office.
Such disparity hits particularly hard for working moms. According to Indeed, nearly 6 in 10 women aged 35 to 44 are actively searching for remote roles. “Getting your kids ready for school without having to worry about your own commute? Game changer,” said Indeed career expert Priya Rathod, who founded the company’s Parents and Caregivers ERG. Nearly half of all remote job seekers are juggling the demands of raising children, according to the survey.
For those facing mandatory returns, the challenges continue to pile up like rush-hour traffic. Workers’ biggest complaints: soul-crushing commutes (mentioned by 47% in the survey), unexpected costs (28%) and the dreaded return of “real trousers” (28%). And don’t forget about Spot: a quarter of respondents are also stressed about pet care.
The hybrid model has emerged as a potential middle ground, with 37% of job seekers specifically targeting such positions. The preference is particularly strong among workers aged 18 to 34, suggesting that employers may want to consider flexible arrangements to attract and retain emerging talent.
The ugly truth remains that the financial burden of RTO falls disproportionately on lower-income employees and working parents — and organizations struggling to put the pre-pandemic toothpaste back in the tube could well find that those blanket mandates are leading to a new form of workplace inequality, workplace experts warn.
“Many employees have found that working from home offers a level of productivity, focus and balance that the traditional office environment simply can’t match,“ Dennerline said. “If the goal is to encourage higher productivity, leaders need to adapt to the realities of the workplace today and trust their employees to get the work done.“