Office workers struggle to maintain their remote working - Summer update 2025
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Three years after the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic finally subsided, office companies around the world and their employees are still sticking to their hybrid work patterns and models.
A summer 2025 status shows that currently, globally, an average of 1.3 days per week are working from home: 1-2 days in the US, UK and Australia, 1-1½ days in Europe, 1 day in Latin America and Africa, and ½-1 days in Asia.
While US media headlines often suggest that companies are pressuring employees to return to physical offices, the reality is that levels of remote work have stabilised since 2023. Now, remote and hybrid working arrangements are considered the norm in many workplaces.
In the Danish labour market, access to hybrid and remote working has become as important an employment benefit as pensions and vacation days.
Still great flexibility
"In 2024, companies experimented wildly with shaping the future of work: Some invested massively in full-time work-from-home policies, others opted for structured hybrid models, and a few even brought their office workers back full-time.
Now that companies have built the framework and experienced the cost and time savings associated with remote work, there should be no real reason to turn back," a new report, the State of Remote Work Report 2025, assesses.
  A summer 2025 status shows that currently, globally, an average of 1.3 days weekly are working from home: 1-2 days in the US, UK and Australia, 1-1½ days in Europe, 1 day in Latin America and Africa, and ½-1 days in Asia. Photos: StockCake |
The report from the world's largest remote work community, which attracts over 2.5 million monthly visitors, highlights the latest trends and how remote work has evolved:
"69% of US companies now offer flexibility regarding work location, up from 51% in 2024. Additionally, 73% of companies with fewer than 500 employees provide full flexibility.
Furthermore, 51% of employees prefer to work remotely full-time and report higher job satisfaction. A remarkable 90% of all employees commend remote work for its flexibility and work-life balance," the WWR report states.
Tightens RTO requirements
Recent figures and studies indicate that return-to-office initiatives and requirements are on the rise globally and are becoming more intense.
Many companies are mandating that employees spend more days in their physical offices, while an increasing number of organisations are moving away from full-time hybrid or remote work arrangements.
 Recent figures and studies indicate that return-to-office initiatives and requirements are on the rise globally and are becoming more intense. |
Several large and well-known international companies, including Amazon, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, SpaceX, and Tesla, have adopted a stricter approach in the first half of 2025. They are now requiring their employees to return to the office five days a week.
In Denmark, the company Joe & the Juice has mandated that its entire office staff work in their physical offices full-time. Across Europe, many office workers are now allowed to work from home for a maximum of one day per week.
Control
Many managers prefer having employees return to the office because they are often inexperienced in managing remote teams.
According to Professor Christine Ipsen, a researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, it can be more challenging for managers to maintain communication and connection with employees when everyone is not in the same physical space.
Ipsen also notes that her research has not found any evidence indicating that employees are less effective when they work from home.
 "Corporate return-to-office decrees are not about employee productivity - they are about employer distrust and mistrust, control and power!" American management strategist Curt Steinhorst polemicises. |
Some people have a more sceptical view of employers' eagerness to bring employees back to the office. As American management strategist, keynote speaker, and bestselling author Curt Steinhorst puts it:
"Pay attention to the language used when companies like Amazon tighten their return-to-office (RTO) policies, and you may sense an underlying suspicion. The unspoken assumption is that if employees are left to work independently, they will become disengaged, underperform, or even quit.
The discussions and enforcement of RTO policies are not primarily about enhancing efficiency and productivity. They are about employer distrust, control, and power ...!" ●
Read more:
Forbes.com: Return-to-office - it's not about productivity, it's about power
Weworkremotely.com: Welcome to WWR’s State of Remote Work Report 2025
Personneltoday.com: Hybrid working trend continues to grow despite RTO mandates
Fortune.com: Remote workers spend 2.5 fewer hours than their coworkers in the office
