CINCINNATI — The pandemic prompted many employers to add remote or work-from-home options, but some companies are now deciding it's time for employees to return to the office.
Working from home is attractive to many people. According to a recent report, 40% of workers said they'd accept a pay cut to keep their remote jobs. Some employees say returning to the office is a financial burden and they're pushing back.
Multiple Kroger employees reached out to us after the company announced it is mandating general office employees to return to work in person. One employee said this would increase their child care expenses and double their current commuting costs. We reached out to Kroger about the new policy but have not heard back.
UC economics professor Michael Jones said remote work has proven to be successful in some fields.
"But for certain types of jobs, creative industries where you need to work in a group and collaborate, they found that working from home wasn't as productive as it would have been," Jones said. "So you're starting to see companies bring those employees back into the office."
Watch the video below about the recent wave of return-to-office mandates:
Some of the major companies demanding office returns in 2025 include Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, American Electric Power and AT&T.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also ordered state employees to return to the office full-time starting next month.
Jones said about 60% of workers are in-person full-time. About 30% of employees are hybrid, splitting their time between working from home and the office.
"We're getting very good at Zoom. No longer do you hear is this working? Can you hear me? We can get right into productivity, and I think that's a sign that we're getting much more comfortable," Jones said.
While many companies are still embracing hybrid work, only about 10% of workers are fully working from home. So, you may want to think twice before moving across the country for a remote job, that way you don't waste your money.
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