President Donald Trump has mandated that all federal employees return to the office five days a week, with many private companies following suit in 2025. However, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center indicates that a significant portion of American workers would prefer to seek new employment rather than abandon remote work.
The survey reveals that among employed adults whose jobs can be performed from home, 75% are working remotely at least part-time. Of these workers, nearly half (46%) stated they would likely leave their current job if required to work exclusively on-site.
An increasing number of employees with remote-capable jobs report being required to work in-person for certain periods each week or month. Among those not fully remote, 75% have in-person work requirements, up from 63% in early 2023.
Major corporations such as Amazon, AT&T, Walmart, JPMorgan, and Citigroup are reportedly requiring full-time office returns in 2025.
Trump's executive order affects approximately 1.1 million federal employees eligible for remote work arrangements out of a total workforce of 2.8 million. Among them, 228,000 have been working entirely remotely.
The potential impact of these return-to-office policies on employee retention remains uncertain. The Trump administration has expressed openness to resignations resulting from these changes.
"Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome," wrote Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal after Trump's election.
Musk and Ramaswamy were appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aimed at reducing government spending. On January 20th, Ramaswamy resigned from DOGE to pursue public office in Ohio, leaving Musk as the head of the agency.
