In March 2020, the world was changed forever as the Covid 19 pandemic ushered in a new era of working: the era of remote work. Now as we welcome in 2025, employers are more eager than ever to get their workers back into the office as we have already seen Amazon and The Metropolitan Police request their staff return to the office 5 days a week. So, is this really the end of remote working? Or are there benefits to maintaining this flexible way of work.

Remote Work in 2025

For almost the last 5 years, companies have retained a flexible working policy after many businesses transitioned to remote work in 2020. This has meant that employees have been able to complete a certain number of their working days from a remote location, rather than their office. This is often referred to as hybrid working and has been a standard practise across all industries.

Since its implementation, employers and employees alike have seen multiple benefits in favour of maintaining hybrid work. Research by Stanford Report found that resignations fell by 33% amongst workers who shifted from working full-time in the office to a hybrid schedule. They also concluded that hybrid work had no negative impact on employee productivity or performance.

So why do employers want their workforce back in the office 5 days a week?

Many companies such as Amazon and Goldman Sachs have cited workplace culture as a primary reason for requiring office attendance 5 days a week. A positive workplace culture leads to a happier, more driven workforce which provides employees with a sense of belonging, according to Harvard University. Many businesses have blamed poor communication as the primary reason for a negative workplace culture, an issue which is hard to rectify if most of your staff are at home rather than in the office.

Clearly, changes are necessary for hybrid workers to ensure employees have this flexibility without damaging the wider company culture.

How is Remote Work Changing?

remote work amazon

Many companies in the UK such as BT, Asda, Starling, and Santander have begun slowly cutting back on remote work initiatives. Amazon have gone one step further by demanding all workers return to the office full time, ending their hybrid work schemes for most workers.

However, this has had its limitations as Amazon’s US operation has noted that they will be unable to meet their deadline in terms of staff returning to the office due to a lack of desks and other facilities.

The scaling back of offices which occurred as a cost cutting measure during the pandemic may become another hurdle in terms of getting employees back into the office.

While employees may enjoy the flexibility that hybrid work has granted them in terms of work-life balance, they may not have much of a say when it comes to their full-time return to the office.

Employers can request an employee to stop working remotely and return to the office under the guise of a “reasonable management request” if the employee’s contract states that their work will be office-based and no other arrangements have been made.

This means under most circumstances, employees will have no control over their work location however, Alison Colley at Employment Law Advice notes that employees can request flexible working as the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2024 means that employees can issues a request of this nature twice a year but it is still up to the employer to accept this request.

What does the Future Hold For Remote Workers?

It will likely take time for all remote workers to return to their offices and as of January 2025, the Government have not announced how they plan on including flexible working into the Employment Rights Bill 2024. It can be assumed that this bill will likely involve strengthening the rights of workers in terms of deciding where they work. However, for the time being, employers are within their rights to request their workers to return to the office five days a week.

If you have any concerns regarding requesting employees to return to the office or if you need advice in terms of preparing for the return of staff members, please feel free to get in touch with Willerby Hill HR.