Fifty-four per cent of respondents to The Logic’s latest subscriber survey don’t support return-to-office mandates, and think remote work positively impacts their organization’s productivity—but not company culture.

Return-to-office mandates are on the rise across Canada, with big banks like BMO, RBC and Scotiabank all requiring employees to be in-office four days per week starting this fall. Dell, Amazon and Toronto-based investment firm Canaccord have all issued five-day-per-week mandates, although smaller companies are apparently less likely to follow suit. 

Most of the people we surveyed are not fans of these efforts—54 per cent don’t support return-to-office mandates, and many respondents said blanket requirements would fall short if not tailored to the needs of the organization and specific roles. One respondent said such requirements “focus on presenteeism over productivity,” while another said it’s “inconsiderate to force people to commute or change their living conditions, especially for employees with young children or caregivers for aging parents.”

Over half of the respondents said remote work makes their workplace more productive, citing reduced commuting times and costs and, in some cases, fewer distractions. But 51 per cent also said work-from-home takes a toll on workplace culture, citing decreased opportunities for camaraderie: “I still remember those days back in the ’70s and ’80s when we’d all stop work and head out for lunch,” one subscriber said. 

“Connection between people is best built through in-person interactions, and connection is where company culture is created and perpetuated,” another respondent said. “In a remote work environment, it takes a lot more intention and effort to build and maintain culture than it does where people regularly see each other face to face.”

Ninety-two per cent of respondents have workplaces that allow remote work, and the number of days respondents spent in-office on average varied greatly. Around a quarter of respondents spent three or four days a week in the office, while another quarter were fully remote. Only 12 per cent spent their full work week in-office, compared to one-tenth in our October 2023 subscriber survey.

In an ideal world, 23 per cent of respondents said they would spend 2 days per week in the office— but, overall, readers were evenly split on that too. Not everyone buys that work-from-home increases workplace output, though—33 per cent of respondents support return-to-office mandates.

“Canada’s productivity is down because people are at home getting distracted,” one respondent claimed. “We need a focused economy and right now, as a nation, we have to get back to work; we can balance life later when we are ‘richer.’”

Several respondents acknowledged their location preference was a reflection of the era they started work in, and said mandates could work if they were implemented properly: “It is disheartening to see workers who come to work, only to spend their days on video calls they could have taken remotely.”

“People are happier, but less connected and engaged with the broader mission,” another reader said of remote work. “They focus on their tasks and roles instead of the organization’s success, which is fine as long as management can connect and co-ordinate those tasks into a functioning business.”