Most CEOs expect full return-to-office in 3 years: KPMG

Dive Brief:

A majority (83%) of CEOs surveyed globally predict that companies will shift to require a “full” return of employees to in-office work in the next three years, an increase from 64% the prior year, KPMG said, reporting on the findings of a survey of 1,300 chief executives conducted in July and August.
The report also revealed a generational divide in the executives’ sentiment on the back-to-the-office matter: 87% of CEOs aged 60-69 predicted a full return to office, 83% of those aged 50-59 expect the shift back to the office to happen while only 75% of chief executives aged 40-49 did so, according to the report. Meanwhile more male CEOs (84%) bet on the full return to office scenario compared to 78% of top female executives.
“This year’s findings reveal that CEOs are hardening their stance on returning to pre-pandemic ways of working,” KPMG said.

Dive Insight:

Since the rise of remote work during the pandemic, CFOs and their companies have been navigating a challenging path as they make decisions about structuring and financing their employees’ work environments.

A hybrid approach that allows for both in-office and remote work days has seemed to gain sway: workers in the U.S. and Canada are spending just 3.1 days in the office per week, with Wednesday being the most popular in-office day, according to a recent report from the commercial real estate and investment management company JLL, CFO Dive reported.

But this week Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy told workers they must get to the office five days a week starting in January. He joined the likes of Elon Musk, who opposes remote work and told employees to head to the office on a full-time basis in 2022, CBS News reported.

KPMG warned in the report that there is a “widening gap” between how executives and workers think about their workplaces that needs to be taken into account.

“The successful leaders of tomorrow will be those who understand that their talent dilemma can only be solved by investing in, nurturing and supporting talent through a ‘social contract’ that understands today’s employees don’t just desire, but expect a more agile, flexible working environment and a better work-life balance — especially in the midst of a pervasive cost of living crisis,” Nhlamu Dlomu, global head of people at KPMG International, said in a statement included in the report.

Broken out from the global data, the sentiment of U.S. CEOs was slightly less bullish on the expectation of a full return to office. Some 79% of U.S. CEOs surveyed expect the working environment to shift over the next three years to full return to office, 17% expect a hybrid approach and 4% anticipate a fully remote work culture.