When return-to-office mandates backfire

Employers experience a spike in staff turnover when they order employees back to the office, an overseas study has found.

Conducted by academics from American and Chinese universities, the study interrogated the job vacancy data of 54 S&P 500 firms and the employment histories of 3 million tech and finance workers on LinkedIn, and found that staff turnover increased by an average of 14 per cent after firms introduced return-to-office mandates.

Women, senior employees and highly skilled workers were the most likely to quit in protest.

The researchers said this was probably because female employees were disproportionately affected by office attendance requirements as they tended to have more family responsibilities, while disgruntled senior employees had more opportunities to find jobs elsewhere as they tended to have more professional connections.

“Further, it takes [a] significantly longer time for these firms to fill their job vacancies after the mandates,” the researchers said.

“These results are consistent with firms losing their best talent and female employees, and facing greater difficulties with talent attraction, after RTO mandates.”

The study comes after a recent spate of high-profile RTO mandates in Australia.

Wagering company Tabcorp ordered staff to return to the office five days a week in September, while Coles informed its 5000 office workers in November that the company would gradually introduce a three-day-a-week mandate over the next six months.

Our story this week looks at the study in more detail – and explores why some people believe the spike in staff turnover is actually part of the plan.

Elsewhere, we offer career advice for those wanting to break into investment banking or get a job at a tech unicorn, from those who made it.

We also talk to Grant Thornton chief executive Greg Keith about the challenges of transitioning to a nine-day fortnight.

And we reveal the Business People of the Year for 2024.

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