What would CEOs do to get workers back in the office? A survey was conducted this Thursday by KPMG to find out.
The dislike for remote work is so strong that nine out of 10 CEOs said they would hand out raises, promotions, or better assignments to workers who choose the daily commute.
Only 9% of the 400 US CEOs polled said they were neutral on rewarding employees who come into the office, while 1% said they were unlikely to favor workers who showed up over those that worked remotely.
This shows that the fight over returning to the office taken by big companies, like Amazon and Meta, isn’t likely to end soon. Now, many companies have settled into a mix of in-office and remote work.
CEOs’ stance on hybrid work is shifting, but they “are not thinking that it will be this dramatic, turn-on-the-dime-type change as to how much employees are in the office,” Paul Knopp, chair and CEO at KPMG US, told Insider.
The survey found only one-third of CEOs envision traditional office jobs as remaining hybrid, down from 45% in 2022.
Plus, only 4% of CEOs expect to allow fully remote roles for those whose jobs were once in the office, down from 20% last year.
About eight in 10 US CEOs said the biggest trends that could imperil the prosperity of their companies in the next three years were the cost of living, regulatory demands, and disruptive technology.
KPMG’s survey occurred from mid-August to mid-September and involved 400 US CEOs of companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue.
Either way, leaders are going to have a hard time getting workers to give up the flexibility and productivity they’ve grown accustomed to.
