Monday morning. You’ve just sat down with your coffee, laptop open, emails loading—and you’re already dreading next week’s mandatory office day. You don’t mind the work, and you quite like the team, but does the work really need to be done from a specific postcode?
We hear the grumbles on both sides. Employers chasing productivity, culture, and collaboration. Employees guarding flexibility like it’s oxygen. Somewhere in between sits the hybrid model—once hailed as the best of both worlds, now quietly becoming another battleground.
Why the Return to the Office?
Let’s be fair. Some of the reasoning makes sense. Leaders want visibility. They miss the off-the-cuff chats that spark ideas or resolve tensions. They’re also under pressure to justify expensive office leases and ensure new hires don’t disappear into the remote void.
There’s also the concern—spoken or not—that remote work breeds disengagement. Are people working efficiently? Are they still invested? Are junior staff getting enough exposure to learn by osmosis?
These are valid questions. But forcing blanket office days doesn’t always answer them.
The Problem With One-Size-Fits-All
The biggest issue? Not all roles—or teams—need the same level of face time. For some, creative collaboration happens best in person. For others, deep focus is shattered the minute someone asks, “Got a sec?”
Blanket policies, like everyone in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, often ignore the actual rhythms of the work. They feel arbitrary, and when rules feel arbitrary, they start to breed resentment.
Add long commutes, childcare logistics, and rising transport costs into the mix, and that mandatory office day starts to look like a productivity tax.
Culture Doesn’t Require a Commute
One of the loudest arguments for office time is maintaining culture. But let’s be honest: company culture isn’t built on where people sit. It’s built on how people lead, communicate, support, and recognise each other.
You can have an electric in-office culture—and a toxic one. The same goes for remote or hybrid teams. If culture isn’t intentional, no amount of desk space will fix it.
The office can support culture. But it can’t be the whole strategy.
So What’s the Smarter Move?
We’re not anti-office. We’re pro-purpose.
Here’s what we’ve seen work well among our most forward-thinking clients:
- Purpose-driven office days: People are more willing to come in when there’s a clear reason—team planning, client meetings, creative sessions—not just because it’s “Wednesday.”
- Manager autonomy: Trust leaders to know what their teams need. Give them the flexibility to decide when office time adds value.
- Clear, two-way communication: If you're going to make it mandatory, explain why. Better yet—ask employees what works for them and build policies together.
- Hybrid, not halfway: Hybrid doesn’t mean the worst of both worlds. Done right, it should give people the structure and freedom they need to do great work.
Final Thought
Mandating office hours isn’t inherently wrong. But it needs to be thoughtful, not reactive. Flexibility isn’t just a perk anymore—it’s a marker of trust. And in a talent market where the best people have options, trust can be your biggest advantage.
At Proximity Recruitment, we help companies find and retain that top-tier talent—and that means looking beyond job specs to what makes people want to stay. Office days included.
That balance between structure and freedom? It matters for individuals too. Navigating hybrid working, shifting expectations, and evolving professional norms takes more than just a solid CV.