RTO mandates have brought workers back to the office. However, that doesn’t mean remote work is dead.

Today, we’ll talk about remote and hybrid work, and why they have remained a fixture in today’s complex and AI-powered jobs landscape.

Intrigued?

Keep reading below.

RTO mandates have brought workers back to the office. However, that doesn’t mean remote work is dead.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed how work was done.

At the height of this health crisis, many professionals across Corporate America worked within the confines of their homes.

Even when America and the rest of the world opened up, remote work continued to persist.

According to findings from the  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 35% of U.S.-based employees did some or all of their  work at home  in 2023.

However, the winds have shifted since then. Corporate America has made a concerted effort to bring workers back to the office.

In 2025, corporate behemoths like  Amazon,  Google,  Starbucks, and  JPMorgan Chase  enacted sweeping return-to-office (RTO)  mandates.

It’s been more than a year since these RTO policies have been put to effect, and while it’s reasonable to assume that these have helped in killing off remote work entirely, that might not be entirely the case.

Remote Work Isn’t Dead Yet

The  Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis  recently  looked into  how remote work has fared over the past two years.

According to its findings, the number of people across the U.S. working remotely hasn’t changed much over the past couple of years.

In 2025, roughly 22% of American workers aged 16 and older engaged in some remote work. Within this group, 10.4% worked fully remotely, and 11.4% followed a hybrid schedule.

Roughly the same numbers were observed in 2024, with just a slight difference—10.6% of employees worked remotely full-time while 11.7% followed a hybrid setup in December of that year.

It’s clear that remote work has remained a fixture in the American workplace, but there are nuances to take note of as well.

In the same Federal Reserve study, it was observed that Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, and Colorado have the highest percentage of people working remotely in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the public information and information sectors saw the most drops in the number of remote workers at -6% and -5.1%, respectively.

While those sectors saw declines, the health care and social assistance, manufacturing, and other services categories saw mild increases in their remote working populations.

What's even more interesting is that,  according  to workplace consulting firm  Leesman, only about 3% of the 100 to 130 large companies it surveyed require employees to be in the office five days a week.

In the grand scheme of things, 3% seems like a drop in the bucket. It also shows that remote work—or hybrid work—has endured despite the massive RTO push.

To sum up, what’s clear from the numbers we’ve presented so far is that remote work has yet to go away… and that begs the question:

Why hasn’t remote work gone away completely?

There are many answers to that question, but we’ve chosen to highlight two of the most plausible reasons.

• Worker Preference
  
  According to  Gallup , 76% employees who work in a hybrid setting consider the setup as advantageous to their personal life and work life balance.
  
  Meanwhile, 64% found that a hybrid working setup has helped them become more efficient in the use of their time. 61% also said the working setup leads to less burnout or fatigue.
  
  Given these advantages, it’s clear why working remotely (even if it’s not full-time), continues to remain popular among professionals.
  
  
• A Better Pool of Workers
  
  While it’s commonly assumed that remote work is popular mainly to workers, there’s also a reason as to why some companies prefer this setup.
  
  According to Deborah Saneman, CEO of payroll and HR software firm  Würk , shrinking down its office footprint and allowing for remote working options have enabled it to attract more talent.
  
  

From these numbers and reasons, it’s evident that remote work isn’t going away anytime soon.

So, what does that entail for leaders and managers?

It means that to remain competitive in today’s complex jobs market, some form of flexibility will be needed to attract and retain top-tier talent.

Sure, AI has been a force multiplier; however, these systems don’t work on their own. They still need human oversight.

The best talents today aren’t just those who possess expertise and deep knowledge in their respective domains; they’re also adept at leveraging AI to boost their productivity and competence.

That said, those who possess that combination don’t come in droves. Most of them might even consider the flexibility that remote and hybrid work provide as non-negotiable.

Hence, to ensure your access to top talent, a robust remote and/or hybrid work policy will become one of your best tools in attracting and retaining high performers.

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