A recent report released by management consulting company McKinsey and Company found that 87% of U.S. workers want flexibility, but 50% of employers want employees back in the office. This disconnect between employee expectations and business needs has been dubbed “the Great Mismatch” — and it’s affecting job seekers, employees and employers alike.

Looking for more insight into shifting employee expectations and demands for 2024? Our Employee Benefits Market Outlook offers an inside look.

What is the Great Mismatch?

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped workplace norms as many employees transitioned to remote work for the first time. Technology advanced rapidly to meet the sudden demand for telework, and although remote work didn’t suit every job position, it worked better than most could have predicted.

Many employees enjoyed having more control over when and where they worked. This particularly benefited individuals with child and elder care responsibilities or those who preferred to work during nontraditional hours. Some even moved away from cities into more remote areas with the expectation that they wouldn’t be asked to return to a physical work location.

Despite the relative success of remote work, many employers are pushing for employees to return to the office. According to a recent survey by ResumeBuilder, 9 in 10 organizations with office space will require employees to return to in-person work in the near future, and over 1 in 4 respondents said they would threaten to fire employees who failed to meet return-to-office (RTO) requirements.

Yet, most individuals are still looking for remote work. A study conducted by ZipRecruiter found that nearly 2 out of 3 job seekers prefer remote work, and 18- to 34-year-old workers would even accept a pay cut between 16% and 18% to work remotely. This disparity exemplifies the significant mismatch between what employers want and what job hunters are seeking.

Employers Face Backlash on Forced RTO Policies

Forcing employees to return to the office against their will has resulted in backlash for many major organizations, such as Apple and X, wherein employees have refused to follow RTO mandates and staged walkouts. For some workers, even threats of termination have been insufficient to persuade them to comply fully with RTO orders. In fact, a survey by insurance and financial services platform Reli Exchange found that 40% of employees said they would find a new job if fired for not returning to the office, compared to 11% who would ask for their job back.

How Employers Can Respond to the Great Mismatch

Balancing employee demands for flexibility with employer concerns about the impact of remote work on workplace culture, engagement and productivity can be challenging, but employers can bridge the gap by prioritizing an in-office culture that promotes employee wellbeing and freedom of choice.

The following practices can help organizations address the great mismatch:

• Promote work-life balance. Remote workers often struggle to disconnect from work at the end of the day. Employers can capitalize on employees’ desire for work-life balance by encouraging them to leave their laptops at work at the end of the day and refrain from checking their email outside of work hours. 
• Establish flexible work policies. An employee’s job flexibility, workload and time off may vary greatly due to their supervisor’s expectations, but employers can help mitigate this variation by creating a top-down culture of accommodation. Mandating flexible work hours and offering generous paid time off are two examples of policies employers can roll out to foster this culture.  
• Consider hybrid work. Employers may increasingly turn to hybrid work schedules to meet employees in the middle. This may include offering employees the option of choosing which days they are in the office, designating core hours in which every employee is expected to be available or creating custom schedules to help employees balance work and personal responsibilities. 
• Recruit for in-office positions. Employers can prioritize hiring employees who are willing to work in the office. This involves clearly communicating expectations of in-office work to job candidates and potential new hires.  

Employers who take proactive steps to address the gaps between employee wants and expectations and RTO requirements will have a better chance of attracting and retaining employees in today’s labor market.

Looking for more insight into how best to tackle the great mismatch? Connect with CBIZ Employee Benefits today.