As Labour Day fades from sight in the rearview mirror, more Canadian employers are telling, not asking, employees to return to the office for at least a few days of the week.
Driving the news: Among Canadians with hybrid work setups, about 60% are fully remote, down from 75% earlier this year, per a report from Indeed. With the summer holiday season over and businesses looking to start fresh for the fall, that number is poised to fall even further.
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Employers are insisting that days in the office will build communication and increase productivity, and a few studies have found that at least some workers are less productive at home.
- Employees, on the other hand, report higher levels of happiness since ditching their commute, citing improved mental health, flexibility, and, yes, even productivity.
Zoom out: The RTO wave is sweeping Canada’s tech industry—an early proponent of remote work—following RTO pushes from US Big Tech counterparts Amazon and Meta.
- “We are seeing the majority of roles that we have posted right now are hybrid and have a city attached to them,” April Hicke, co-founder of tech talent organization Toast, told The Canadian Press, “[The shift is] very, very quick and very dramatic.”
Yes, but: Other data shows that employers and employees might not be so far apart on the RTO issue after all.
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A Robert Half Canada report found that 54% of hiring managers prefer to have a hybrid work arrangement versus 49% of employees, which is not a massive gap.
- Another survey of nearly 300 Canadian employers by Colliers found that 55% of them were done tinkering with their remote work policies.
Why it matters: Hybrid work isn't going anywhere, and striking the right balance between time in and out of the office has turned into a pressing issue for Canadian businesses.—QH