Toronto – These are not just students who will work more in this September.
After years of experimentation with hybrid work, the increasing number of companies at home is a day, or no one.
It is pushed amidst increasing economic uncertainty that is leaving companies under pressure to take less profit and promote productivity. Even some experts indicate the lack of evidence that more day in the office is good for business, corporate leaders are being assured that it is.
“There are lots of customers who are gradually but definitely enhancing the requirement of in-office,” said Alex Galachar, Managing Director of Anges HR.
Large banks, including RBC, Scotiabank and BMO, have made at least four days mandatory in the office starting in September, while Caincord Jenuit is allegedly moving towards five, earlier this year to go to office by American veteran Amazon and JP Morgan to go to office.
According to a 2024 kPMG survey, 83 percent of the Canadian CEO said they expect to return full -time to the office within three years, according to a 2024 kPMG survey, a big jump from 55 percent according to a survey of 2024 kPMG that thought in 2023.
Companies are citing all types of benefits of being in the office such as easy cooperation and teamwork, mentorship opportunities and better communication, while Galakar sees it especially operated by companies trying to get workers on the same page.
“Is it really happening this is culture,” said Galachar.
“This is a culture that is more harmonious, and it effectively supports what the business is trying to do strategically.”
He said that for customer-oriented services like banks, working together in a person can help those who are trying to get the oriented business that they are trying to get.
Banks have called themselves the same, with RBC going to note this as well as going in more days because it is a “relationship-operated bank” whose person, human connection is the original for his culture.
Scotiabank referred to the benefits of cooperation, engagement and development of career, as well as a strong culture and the spirit of being related as part of its argument.
But the company’s policies are a fairly blunt way to achieve and achieve results when location policies actually demand more nuances and uniqueness, Linda Daxbury, Management Professor Linda Daxbury at the Sprot School of Business of the Chancellor, Chancellor’s Carlton University.
“Decision manufacturers are only taking decisions, such as banks, everyone comes back, or the Canadian government, three days … it looks like very arbitrary decisions such as it is necessary to work hard.”
While companies aim to promote results, it is quite difficult to measure productivity or how well the return-to-office mandate, or house time is working, working, Daxbury said.
He said, “He does not have good performance to measure the productivity of many of his knowledge workers,” he said.
“So why this person can work from home to make a business case and it is not one, it works a lot.”
Some researchers have targeted to determine the effects, such as a research paper from Stanford University Economist Nicholas Bloom last year, which studied 1,600 workers at the Chinese Travel Company Trip.com.
It was found that the employees working at home two days a week were equally productive and were likely to be fully promoted as office-based colleagues, while the turnover between them fell from a third.
But whenever some data supports hybrid work, companies are making this step because they are convinced that the experiment is not working, Daxbury said.
“They are not just going on, okay, hey, I am really going to make every person who works for me, who has come back to people for five days. There is something that is triggering it.”
He said that the spirit of culture, holding a firm together, has received a lot in his research, although it could also come to managers that they cannot come in contact with employees many times, they said.
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon did not return back to the incredible employees as one of the reasons the firm went back to the office completely.
He complained in a February town hall that he could never receive anyone on Friday, in a recording that was posted by Baron.
He also invited those who did not like to quit the policy, underlining how retention is decreasing, which is a less concern during the extreme labor-shortage years of the epidemic.
But when more than 300,000 employees in JP Morgan may require extensive policies, small firms seem easy to navigate.
For example, the KPMG survey found that only 20 percent of the small and medium -sized firms are expected to go to the office throughout the time.
A major contributor to that trend is also a fight to find and keep talented employees, Galachar said, pushing for more days in the office is not so much outside the big cities, especially more specific positions are required for firms.
“If you try and rent a claim manager in the insurance world in South -Western Ontario, it is truly like pulling teeth.”
But as trend shifts and staff leverage feds, Galachar said that it is important to get clarity from any potential employer what their plans are in terms of office work.
“It is probably as important as salary as a question, you know, can you manage your life.”
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 14 July 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX: RY; TSX; BNS; TSX: BMO)
Ian Bikis, Canadian Press