UK companies ordering staff back to the office this year

All good things must come to an end. For some UK workers, that includes remote working, thanks to the number of large employers that are rolling out return to office (RTO) policies.

While small businesses lean into flexible working, large employers are putting their foot down. Their bosses might have embraced hybrid or remote working post-COVID, but the message now is simple: “get back to work, or wave goodbye to a promotion.”

We’re keeping track of all the businesses that have U-turned on remote work below. We’ll also explore their motivation for doing so, and the potential impact on employees.

THG

Global ecommerce company THG, previously known as The Hut Group, has demanded that staff return head office in Manchester for five days a week from 19 August. The announcement coincides with a mass layoff at the firm. Around 171 jobs are expected to be axed.

THG, with owns various online retail brands including LookFantastic and MyProtein, previously had a restricted hybrid working policy in place. Employees had been expected come into the office for four days a week, with the option to work from home one day a week with their manager’s approval.

By announcing an RTO at the same as making redundancies, THG has added fuel to the rumours that many companies are implementing an RTO mandate in the hope that it will make employees quit.

Salesforce

Software brand, Salesforce has issued an RTO ultimatum to its global workforce this year, after it called for a return to office in an internal memo.

Under the mandate, sales, HR, engineering, and support roles will be required to come to the office four to five days a week from October. All other team members will need to attend for three days per week.

The move represents a 180 for the company, whose head UK office is based in London. Just two years ago, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff declared publicly that “office mandates are never going to work.”

The push is likely due to increased emphasis being placed on productivity and profits from investors. According to Bloomberg, Salesforce has cut around 1,000 roles so far this year.

Tesco

At the beginning of July, Tesco announced it was upping the number of days that its admin staff are required to work in-office. From September 2024, employees will be required to work from the office for two days per week, up from a previous three. It said it hopes the move will build a collaborative work culture.

Tesco previously became the first UK supermarket chain to gave all its workers the right to request flexible working from day one. It has now said it will attempt to honour those requests “where possible”.

Tesco UK & ROI people director James Goodman said: “Since launching our approach to hybrid working in 2022, we’ve learned a lot about the benefits that a hybrid model brings. We’ve reviewed our policy so that we can maximise the best bits of hybrid working, while also making sure we’re able to build and support high-performing teams with a collaborative culture.”

Asos

Fashion retail marketplace, Asos first introduced its RTO policy in 2023. Some employees are expected work from the office five days per week, but some are not adhering to the rules. In late June 2024, The Times reported that Asos had told its staff that virtual meetings are becoming “detrimental” to company performance.

The online fashion retailer said it would take disciplinary action if employees were found to be disobeying the policy. It argued that workers need to see and feel the clothes in a way that’s “impossible virtually”.

It added that during other meetings, such as project discussions and presentations, virtual attendance from some invitees was putting a “strain” on the wider team. In the 26 weeks to March 2024, Asos reported an 18% fall in group sales.

Barclays

Barclays Bank stunned its London office workers in late May, when they learned that they would be expected back in the office five days a week. Previously, the rule was thought to only apply to US teams. However, several Barclays VPs have now reportedly been told to come back to the workplace full-time from June 1.

Prevoiously, Barclays staff who were based in London had been allowed to work from home at their managers’ discretion. Many had taken advantage of this loose ruling and had been working remotely between two and three days a week.

Barclays Bank has not yet commented on the reports. However in the US, employees are being more vocal about what they see as an unfair people policy. One US trader at the bank says the rule is being applied differently among the workforce. According to efinancialcareers.co.uk, he said: “traders have no work from home anymore, but sales does”.

Boots

Back in March, beauty chain Boots announced it would ask 3,900 administrative staff to return to its shiny white walls for five days a week by this coming September (up from three). The firm said it gave remote work the boot because of its poor impact on company culture.

Perhaps expecting a backlash from employees, Boots immediately clarified that remote work wouldn’t be discarded just yet. “There will of course still be times when working from home is necessary for either personal or business reasons,” said a spokesperson.

Putting the onus on managers to oversee the return to the office might backfire, however. According to research by Owl Labs, 70% of UK managers have admitted to allowing staff to work remotely from home in defiance of company policy.

JD Sports

At the start of May, JD Sports told employees based in its head office in Bury that they must return to the office for at least four days a week. The new rules will be in place from July 1. Previously, staff at the sports retailer could work from home as often as they liked.

JD, which has a global workforce of 51,297 employees, claimed it had changed its policy to ensure a fair approach for all staff. However, like Boots, JD managers will be asked to appraise requests for flexible work, suggesting approvals will still be subject to personal bias.

Manchester United

There’ll be no home advantage for Manchester United staff this year. The club’s minority-owner, Jim Ratclife has announced that its 1,000 workers will no longer be given work-from-home privileges during an all-staff meeting held earlier this week. Workers who do not want to work from the office will be given a cash bonus to resign.

So why has remote work been shown a red card? Ratcliffe thinks it impacts productivity. He revealed email traffic fell by 20% when teams worked from home one Friday.

Paranoia about remote workers slacking on the job has caused many companies to lean into employee monitoring software. Also known as ‘tattleware’, these methods can have the opposite effect, however, as knocking staff morale can lead to a decrease in output.

Laing O’Rourke

As the construction firm behind the much-delayed HS2 project, Laing O’Rourke has faced plenty of challenges over the past few years. Still, the Dartford-based business appears to see remote work as its biggest threat.

The company told its 8,000-strong workforce to return to the office full-time in April 2024, and attributed the shift to a “challenging FY2023 financial performance”.

In an email, Group Chief Operating Officer Cathal O’Rourke, also blamed low employee engagement for the change. “Our offices are too often sparsely populated and our lack of face-to-face connectivity and collaboration has added to the challenges.”

Civil Service

More than half a million people are employed in Civil Service roles. On average, they work just 2.1 days at their workplaces. Efforts to improve attendance have so far had little impact.

The latest campaign began in January, when the Cabinet Office announced that Civil Service managers who failed to improve on office attendance would face disciplinary action. Staff had been previously instructed to work in-office at least three days per week.

Staff have reacted poorly to the mandate, arguing a return to work could make them less productive. Public sector union PCS is exploring if there is appetite for members to go on strike — a move that will certainly lower productivity.

Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank, which employs more than 7,000 people across Birmingham and London, instructed staff to return to work for at least three days a week, starting in June.

While not as strict as some other employers, the bank also stipulated that staff must work in-office on either Friday or Monday, putting an end to the prolonged work-from-home weekend that many had enjoyed. Senior managers must attend the office four times a week.

In a memo, CEO Christian Sewing and COO Rebecca Short wrote: “we realized that our decision would not be received positively by everyone and we appreciate your feedback and frank words.” These words did little to quell staff anger, however.

“This is an unnecessary battlefront for Deutsche Bank that destroys reputation and trust,” said Stephan Szukalski, head of labour union DBV, which represents Deutsche Bank staff.

Dell Technologies

The technology firm previously requested staff to return to the office full-time amid concerns it would have an impact on productivity. In January, it amped up efforts, telling employees they would miss out on promotions and pay rises if they continued to work from home.

Commenting on its new policy, Dell explained: “We believe in-person connections paired with a flexible approach are critical to drive innovation and value differentiation.”

Dell is not alone in linking remote work with performance reviews. Google has begun to use in-person attendance as part of employee feedback meetings. Still, this strategy risks sending the wrong message to staff that being present is more important than performance.

IBM Consulting

IBM first ordered staff to return to the workplace in September 2023. Reaction was lukewarm at the time. Employer-employee relationships at the firm had already soured after CEO Arvind Krishna publicly declared that 30% of his workers could be replaced by AI.

In January, the company doubled down on its RTO policy. Managers were told that they must be at the office, or meeting a client, for a minimum of three days a week. If not, they could leave the company.

Threatening staff with redundancy unless they come back into the office is certainly a bold move. It’s one of the most extreme messages we’ve seen so far in the return-to-office debate. But likely it won’t be the last.

Planning to implement a return to office policy at your business? Don’t be like these guys. Read about the Flexible Working Bill and your legal obligations as an employer.