Top CEO’s Say Remote Work Will be ‘Dead’ in 3 Years

According to Inc.com, there is a growing wave of return-to-office work in the US, and many top executives predict the end of the practice by 2027.

  A new study shows majority of CEO's now against the practice

KPMG is a global network made up of independent businesses that offer audit, tax and advisory services to thousands of companies worldwide.

They recently released the results of a survey of top CEO's from dozens of companies, and found 79 percent of them believe remote work will all but vanish in 3 years.

Not that long ago, during the Pandemic, remote work was all the rage. Many businesses even abandoned their brick-and-mortar office buildings and found they could save some money.  But now, the trend is changing. According to Inc:

"The surveyed CEOs may have been emboldened by softening in the labor market and a recent wave of return-to-office mandates from major tech employers. That wave continues. After the survey was completed in August, Amazon announced that most employees would be required to work in the office five days a week, beginning next year."

Inc. says a few of these RTO, or return-to-office mandates are being done as a workforce reduction tool.  A person who can't or won't turn to office work the majority of the time could be an easier employee to lay off.

But Inc. says most of these CEOs are not thinking that way. Instead, they prefer to be able to manage and direct their workers in person, and remote work doesn't allow that.

Inc. says the study shows many companies plan to reward RTO workers with raises or other perks.

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On the other side of the coin, Inc. says these RTO mandates will provide smaller start-up businesses and entrepreneurs a bigger pool of quality workers they can hire, employees who don't want to return to the office. According to Inc.:

"Whatever the explanation, the continuing rollback of remote work options at larger employers creates a rare opportunity for startups and smaller employers to recruit employees who have sought-after skills. If you’re willing to let people work at home at least one or two days a week, you can offer them a perk they really, really want, and that will cost you nothing at all."