From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, many executives think that bringing employees back to the office is the secret to restoring productivity. But they’re wrong. That’s not what’s happening in those newly populated offices.

Instead, your employees are more likely to be joining video calls from company desks and wearing noise-canceling headphones while doing work they could have done at home. Only now they’re paying $20 to commute and eating sad desk salads to get through the day.

The timing couldn’t be more ironic. A new wave of return-to-office (RTO) mandates arrive just as companies pour millions into AI initiatives designed to automate work, eliminate roles, and drive bottom-line efficiency.

Leaders advocate for AI as the engine of the future, one that can streamline and modernize how work gets done. So, why are they forcing people back into offices designed for workflows that AI is actively making obsolete?

Recent research shows what many employees have known all along: RTO mandates don’t improve productivity, innovation, or team connection. But they do weaken morale and accelerate attrition.

If companies want better long-term performance, they might consider paying attention to the employee experience instead of treating it as a footnote to investor expectations. And they should also recognize that unpopular RTO policies reflect a deeper tension—one that AI is making increasingly clear.

The Quiet Part Out Loud
RTO mandates aren’t failing because the concept of in-person collaboration is flawed. They’re failing because the justifications are.

Executives keep saying they want to “rebuild culture,” but the real motives often tell a different story: investor pressure, management’s discomfort with remote autonomy, or the convenient use of office mandates as a cover for workforce reduction.

At a time when AI is openly positioned as a way to reduce labor costs, some companies appear to be using RTO as a secondary mechanism to achieve this, nudging employees to quit so severance costs stay low. It’s a cost-saving strategy dressed up as culture building. When employees become line items, distrust becomes the default operating model.

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