The year 2025 has been a turbulent year for everyone following the debate over returning to office. Amazon’s five-day mandate came into force on January 2, 2025, JPMorgan is following suit and even the British government is pushing civil servants back to their desks.
But here’s the thing: mandates alone don’t work. The companies that are seeing real success with the return to the office are the ones that are giving employees a reason to actually come to the office. And that starts with the workplace itself.
In this article we look at what’s happening with the return to the office in the UK, why so many mandates are backfiring and how the right office space can be your most powerful tool for bringing teams back together. We treat:
- The latest return-to-office statistics for UK businesses
- Why UK companies are seeing resignations over RTO mandates
- Your rights: Can your employer force you to return to the office?
- What Amazon, JPMorgan and PwC are doing
- Why office design is the missing piece
- How to find the right space for your company
What really happens with returning to office in the UK?
Despite all the headlines, UK home working rates have barely changed since 2022. Research from King’s College London found that around 26-27% of working people still consider their home to be their main place of work.
What has changed is the way employees respond to strict guidelines. Only 42% of UK workers currently say they would comply with a five-day return to the office requirement. That’s down from 54% at the start of 2022.
The numbers that should really worry employers:
- 58% would quit or start looking for a job if forced to return to full-time work
- 10% would resign immediately – twice as many as from 2022
- 64% of women say they would quit because of a strict mandate, compared to 51% of men
- Only a third of mothers with young children would comply
Professor Heejung Chung, lead author of the King’s College study, puts it this way:
“There has been a significant shift in attitudes and workers now view flexibility as the norm. Managers must understand and adapt to this new reality.”
Why are British companies seeing resignations over returning to office?
The CIPD reports that over a million British workers left their jobs last year, citing a lack of flexibility as the main reason. This is a significant talent drain – and largely self-inflicted.
The problem isn’t that employees don’t see value in office time. The fact is that the trip to many offices is simply not worth it. When someone has a fully equipped home, it’s difficult to ask them to drive an hour each way to sit in a loud, open space with dodgy WiFi.
There is also a trust issue. A BambooHR survey found that a quarter of senior leaders admitted they hoped returning to office would lead to voluntary resignations. Whether this is widespread or not, employees have noticed it – and it’s influencing how they view these policies.
The result? Phenomena such as the “coffee badge” – showing up at the office for a short time to go home – are particularly widespread among younger employees. It means compliance without commitment and defeats the entire purpose of bringing people back.
Can your employer force you to return to the office?
This is one of the most frequently searched questions about returning to work, and the answer depends on your situation.
If your contract in the UK requires office work and you do not have a formal remote working arrangement, your employer generally has the right to require attendance. However, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2024 now gives employees the right to request flexible working from day one.
Employers must consider these requests appropriately – but they may still deny them for legitimate business reasons. The Starmer Government has indicated that it may tighten these provisions further, potentially making it more difficult to reject remote working requests without a valid justification.
The practical reality? Even if employers have the legal right to mandate office attendance, enforcing that requirement on an unruly workforce creates its own problems. You will achieve the best results if you make office time attractive rather than obligatory.
What are Amazon, JPMorgan and other big companies doing?
The big steps towards returning to office are making headlines:
Amazon implemented its five-day office mandate on January 2, 2025. According to Blind, 91% of affected employees expressed dissatisfaction, with 73% saying they were thinking about leaving the company. Some employees experienced delays in returning simply because Amazon did not have enough desk space at certain locations.
JPMorgan will require all employees to work five days per week starting in March 2025, ending hybrid arrangements entirely.
PwC has increased its minimum office attendance requirements and is monitoring compliance using ID data.
WPP announced a four-day office mandate, prompting employees to launch a petition that garnered over 8,000 signatures.
In the UK in particular, a KPMG survey found that 83% of CEOs expect a full return to office within three years. There is a significant gap between managers’ expectations and employees’ willingness to meet them.
Why office design is the missing piece
Here’s a stat that reframes the whole conversation: Leesman research shows that only 51% of employees are proud enough of their workplace to bring in guests. Only 65% say their environment actually supports their productivity.
If your office doesn’t inspire pride and enable good work, why would anyone choose to commute there?
The companies that succeed in returning to the office are investing in spaces that people actually want to use. HP’s workspace redesign with Unispace is a good example: the new environment with experiential design, tech cafes and wellness facilities achieved over 30% occupancy throughout the week, including Fridays. In today’s hybrid world, this is extraordinary.
Why is the trip to the office worth it?
- Spaces designed for true collaboration – not just rows of desks
- Quiet areas for concentrated work
- Quality amenities – good coffee, good food, spa facilities
- Technology that actually works
- An environment where employees are proud to work
Research from K2 Space found that 70% of new employees decide whether a company is a good fit for them within their first month – and almost a third make this decision in the first week. The workplace they encounter shapes these crucial first impressions.
How to find the right space for your company
Understanding that workplace quality drives success in the office is one thing. A completely different challenge is actually finding the right space.
The commercial real estate market can be opaque and most companies do not have specific real estate expertise. This is where professional advice makes a real difference – but it’s worth understanding how different brokers work.
Most office brokers work for tenants and landlords at the same time. They support you in finding space and at the same time market properties on behalf of developers. This creates an inherent tension – if the same agent represents both sides, whose interests come first?
The alternative is pure tenant representation. An agent who works exclusively for companies seeking space has no competing loyalties. Your success depends entirely on getting the best outcome for you, not on maintaining relationships with landlords.
Tenant-only brokers often access off-market opportunities, understand that your workplace should be an asset that employees enjoy using, and can negotiate terms that are missing from traditional approaches.
For an in-depth look at how office brokers work and what to keep in mind, this guide to being an office broker covers the key differences between the types of brokers and how to get the most out of the process.
The way forward
The debate over returning to office will not go away. More companies will announce mandates, more employees will resist or circumvent them, and the legal landscape will continue to evolve.
But the pattern is clear: Organizations that succeed in bringing people back ask a different question. Not “How do we force people to return?” But “how do we create a workplace that people enjoy being a part of?”
The answer lies in better spaces – workplaces designed the way people actually work today, found with the help of professionals who understand both the real estate market and human dynamics.
Your workplace can be your greatest asset when competing for talent or a constant source of tension. The choice depends on how serious you are about doing it right.
