RTO: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

U.S. President Donald Trump's first days in office have been marked by a flurry of changes. One of the many was an order for federal employees to return to the office full-time. Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, many government and other office workers have been working from home at least partly, an arrangement employers kept after the pandemic subsided as it was favored by employees and, depending on who you ask, there weren't that many downsides.

With Trump, the U.S. now has a president that thinks that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages of remote work. Almost 3 million federal workers are affected, many of whom have been working in a remote or hybrid model since the pandemic. Other large employers in the U.S. including JPMorgan, Amazon and AT&T have also ordered workers back, touting benefits like enhanced collaboration, creativity and connections of employees to one another and their company.

However, the federal RTO is also expected to lead to a talent exodus. Axios writes that while Trump's circle has said that for efficiency and downsizing reasons they welcome terminations from those who don't want to come into the office five times a week, this strategy could backfire and leave the government short of essential workers, for example in tech positions. A recent survey by Pew Research Center shows that 46 percent of U.S. remote and hybrid workers said that they were unlikely to stay at their jobs if a full RTO would be implemented. This number rose to over 60 percent for fully remote workers, 49 percent for women and 50 percent for younger workers under the age of 50.