Remote work made a comeback last year despite RTO mandates

Will 2026 be the year that RTO makes its final curtain call?

Despite many companies tightening their in-office attendance policies, work from home is still holding strong, with more than one-third (35%) of full-time employees worked from home “some or all of the time” in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a jump from 33.4% in 2024.

This data, released late last month, comes as companies like Amazon and AT&T announced five-day RTO mandates , and office attendance numbers hit post-pandemic highs, HR Brew previously reported.

Many workplace experts continue to advocate for hybrid and flexible work options that combine the benefits of remote and in-person work, especially as employee burnout rises and AI transforms the workplace.

We’ll keep watching to see if the battle between remote and in-person work returns to center stage.