More and more companies want to return to the office – and in doing so are triggering a wave of resignations. According to a study, the fluctuation rate at US companies increases by 14 percent when more on-site work is required.
In companies that force their employees back to the office, the resignation rate increases by an average of 14 percent. As Golem reports, students from several American and Chinese universities examined the career histories of three million employees on LinkedIn. The aim of the analysis was to find out what influence stricter office rules have on employee turnover.
Office requirement leads to more resignations
After the end of the pandemic, many companies are once again focusing on more office presence: These include global tech companies such as Amazon and Google, but also German companies such as Otto and Deutsche Bank are increasingly asking their employees to return to the office. How does this change of course affect the employment rate?
Five students from the University of Pittsburgh and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, among others, investigated this question. Their joint study includes 54 companies from the technology and financial sectors – primarily large US corporations. How the situation on the German labor market will develop is unclear. Nevertheless, a clear trend is emerging that could also be noticeable in Germany.
Women change jobs three times more often
The study shows that the number of resignations rose by an average of 14 percent after companies announced that employees should increasingly work from the office again. According to the study, the reasons for this increase are varied: During the pandemic, many employees appreciated the advantages of home office and remote work and found that they could complete their tasks efficiently from home without having to invest time and money in long commutes.
In addition, the obligation to work in an office has led to a poorer work-life balance for many – a factor that is becoming increasingly important. Some employees have moved to cheaper but more distant residential areas, which makes being in the office even more difficult.
What is particularly striking is that, according to the five authors, stricter office rules have an almost three-times greater impact on the turnover of female employees than on their male colleagues. This means that women change jobs significantly more often when flexibility in the workplace is restricted. One possible reason for this result is that women often take on more family responsibilities. If they are required to be present in the office more often, this makes it much more difficult to combine work and family.
Companies are finding it difficult to fill positions
The study also examined how the return to office work affects the hiring of new employees: Based on over two million job postings, the authors found that companies need significantly more time to fill vacancies after introducing stricter home office rules. On average, the recruitment process is extended by about 23 percent, while the hiring rate drops by 17 percent.
The results also show that senior managers are more likely to leave the company after the announcement of mandatory office work. The study concludes that US companies are not only losing their best talent, but are also struggling with considerable difficulties in adequately replacing them.
