C.E.O.s, and President Trump, Want Workers Back in the Office
The New York Times
Amazon, JPMorgan and others have been telling their employees that remote work is over. Now federal employees have been ordered to come to work in person, too.
Five years since the pandemic began, workers have grown accustomed to a script. Their bosses make return-to-office plans, which then get shelved. And then shelved again.
In recent weeks, the calls to end remote work have come back with gusto, and with authority.
On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order requiring federal department heads to “terminate remote work arrangements” and require all federal workers to return to in-person work five days a week. He previewed the move in December when he said those federal workers who refused to go into the office were “going to be dismissed.”
Some chief executives, who have long been enthusiastic about ditching remote work, have also announced full return-to-office plans. Amazon, JPMorgan and AT&T told many employees they would have to be back in the office five days a week this year. Even in popular culture, the office is making a comeback, with “Babygirl” glamorizing the blouse wearing C.E.O., “Severance” returning for a new season probing corporate psychological drama, and buzzy newsletters like “Feed Me” declaring remote work “out.”
And some workers, who have come back to in-person work of their own volition, are eager to pick up their prepandemic work routines.
Two years ago, Ellen Harwick would have said she wanted to work remotely forever. Last fall, a switch flipped.
