The war over workers returning to the office (RTO) rather than working from home continues, but some of the recent battles suggest that the "work from the office" forces are gaining the upper hand. Those forces are generally seen as employers and the corporate world, but the surprise is that companies bringing workers back to the office have included several tech companies that formerly championed work flexibility.

The movement stretches over many industries. Goldman Sachs announced in August that it was requiring employees to be in the office five days a week, after allowing work-from-home "summer Fridays," an experiment that resulted in media reports of "totally dead" offices on Fridays. And a recent survey from Resume Builder found that 90 percent of businesses leaders polled said their companies will require employees to work from the office five days a week by the end of 2024.

Employers give a number of reasons for bringing workers back to the office. Often they feel that in-person and team interactions are more productive when workers are in the office. But several experts noted that hybrid work is probably here to stay, and that workflows may improve with remote work, depending on the type of work being done.