\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-867417054-e1722248775926.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Research recently confirmed what many workers had already suspected: return-to-office mandates were often a thinly veiled headcount reduction.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n But while forcing workers to choose whether they love remote working more than being employed, a new survey has shown that bosses aren\u2019t following their own mandates.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, 93% of CEOs say they don\u2019t go into the office full time and have instead adopted flexible working patterns<\/p>\n International Workplace Group\u2019s survey of more than 500 U.K. chief executives reveals that bosses are notably absent from the workplace\u2014that is, despite a quarter believing that a return to the office full-time is a priority.<\/p>\n Although working from home makes employment more feasible for parents,\u00a0pet owners<\/a>, workers with disabilities, and those who can\u2019t afford to live near the office, bosses have been calling staff back to their desks, often in the name of creativity and collaboration.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Yet, only 7% of CEOs go into the office five days a week, according to IWG\u2014compared to the 64% for those with a salary below \u00a330,000 ($38,000) who are expected to be in the workplace full time.<\/p>\n Perhaps unsurprisingly, workers who have been stung by RTO mandates will likely be left reeling by the double standards of the findings\u2014and CEOs know it.\u00a0<\/p>\n The research found that two-thirds of respondents know they would lose talented people if they insisted on their employees being present in a central office every day, as nine in 10 work flexibly themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite being notably absent from the workplace themselves, bosses have spent the best part of two years cracking down on office attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dell is giving its workers literal red flags<\/a> for not swiping their badge enough, meanwhile Amazon is putting an end to \u2018coffee badging\u2019<\/a> by setting a minimum-hour obligation on in-office days.<\/p>\n Other businesses have gone one step further and explicitly told their workforce to commute into the office or find somewhere else to work.<\/p>\n Just last month, Patagonia<\/a> gave some 90 staff members just three days to decide<\/a> whether they\u2019d relocate close to the office or quit their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Likewise, the gaming giant Roblox<\/a> warned workers who can\u2019t make it to the company\u2019s physical office that they would have to find another job<\/a>\u2014as did the bosses at TikTok<\/a> and Walmart<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s, Amazon\u2019s CEO Andy Jassy who warned workers that if they can\u2019t commit to the company\u2019s mandate, then \u201cit\u2019s probably not going to work out for you<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Why don\u2019t CEOs want to work more from the office? For the same reason as most: IWG\u2019s research shows that they want to avoid a long commute.\u00a0<\/p>\n In reality, with inflation high but wages low, so too do unemployed Gen Z grads who are having to turn down job opportunities because they can\u2019t afford the commute<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s those at the bottom end of the pay scale\u2014who are most impacted by the costs associated with RTO mandates\u2014who are also most likely to be asked to commute to the office.<\/p>\n While just 20% of businesses top-earners earning over \u00a350,000 ($64,000) are expected to be in the office, this jumps to 64% for those with a salary below \u00a330,000 ($38,000).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nCEOs not included in their own ultimatums\u00a0<\/h2>\n
CEOs want to avoid the commute\u2014but so too do lower earners<\/h2>\n