The return-to-office requirement reflects a growing trend as businesses move beyond policies implemented during the pandemic and assess their workforce needs in the current economy. “Companies are increasingly expecting employees to be in the office, and employees are increasingly present onsite,” Forbes reported earlier this year.

Ford Motor Co. is one of the latest large employers to join this growing trend. Late last week, it announced that most of its salaried employees will be required to return to the office four days a week, beginning on September 1. The move is part of an effort to increase both corporate and worker performance.

“Many of our employees have been in the office three or more days per week for some time now,” a Ford spokesperson told Reuters. “We believe working together in person on a day-to-day basis will help accelerate Ford’s transformation into a higher-growth, higher-margin, less- cyclical and more-dynamic company.”

Related: RTO policies reveal an American workforce at a crossroads

In late 2022, Ford rival General Motors announced that employees would be required to be in the office three days in the week. Although it then reversed this policy, it was reinstated in 2023. According to Reuters, automakers are reevaluating corporate policies as they try to lure Silicon Valley executives to Detroit. Attendance policies seek to balance the flexible arrangements to which many of these workers are accustomed with the urgency of competing with electric vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla.

Some companies, such as JPMorgan and Amazon, have mandated that hybrid workers return five days a week. Meanwhile, office attendance in the insurance industry is at 59% of pre-pandemic levels. Among the other trends cited by Forbes:

• Sixty percent of remote workers said their employers are requiring more time in the office, according to data from TopResume.
• Twenty-eight percent of workers, up from 19%, reported to Bevi that expectations for in-office work had risen to three or more days per week.
• Forty percent of workers are required to be in the office five days a week, according to Bevi’s qualitative employee survey. This is reinforced by data from TopResume in which 38% of employees said they are required to be in the office five days a week.
• Twenty-two percent of companies report they have returned to a fully in-office approach, and another 5% expect to mandate the same this year, according to Resume Template data.
• In-office attendance has reached 66% of pre-pandemic levels according to a separate report from Bevi, which is based on quantitative usage data
• Although expectations for in-office time are rising, the Bevi survey also found that 80% of employees believe their organization’s RTO requirements are fair.

“As leaders establish return-to-office mandates and expectations, they are wise to consider both organizational needs and the results they’re trying to drive -- as well as their talent markets,” Forbes concluded. “And of course, they should consider impacts on employees. The landscape of work continues to evolve—and it’s likely that while RTO mandates are expanding, hybrid work will be here to stay as well.”