The Great Office Return—Will 2025 Be The End Of Remote Work?

Remote work has undergone significant changes over the years. To begin with, most people were physically going to work in the office. Then during and shortly after the pandemic, the majority of knowledge workers operated from home. Following this, from 2022 onwards, remote work appeared to decline and give way to hybrid working models in many companies, while other employers opted to take the full return-to-office (RTO) approach. Meanwhile, a much smaller number of companies still offer fully remote work.

There are so many conflicting ideas regarding remote work which make this an ongoing workplace debate, and the news regarding big-name companies like Amazon and Dell mandating five-days-a-week RTO in 2024 leaves many scratching their heads and concerned about where they might end up working in 2025 and beyond.

The FlexIndex just released their Flex Report for Q4 2024, and it uncovered some noteworthy insights on how the concept of remote work is changing, and what one might expect for 2025.

What You Need To Know About Remote Work For 2025

First, an estimated 68% of U.S. employers offer some form of work location flexibility. Only one-third of companies require full-time in-office presence. The positive news is that despite headliners within the past few months about companies mandating return to the office, overall, the number has flattened out over the past couple quarters.

The next observation is that approximately 43% of U.S. firms now have structured hybrid models. Structured hybrid refers to when companies set specific requirements or expectations on when employees should come in physically to work, such as specific days, a minimum number of days, or a percentage of time. But when it comes to deciding between two potential employers as far as full flexibility is concerned, you’re better off looking for a job at a small company. Small businesses tend to have an increased likelihood of providing fully remote work flexibility (70%) than larger established organizations (only 14%).

The report reveals that overall, the number employers holding a set expectation of how much time is spent working from the office, is trending upwards. Over the last six months alone, there has been a 0.29 day increase in the number of days required per week in the office, from the average U.S. employer. While that may not seem significant, it does amount to much when you consider what the next six months to a year from now might look like for workers.

This change “is predominately driven by two movements in policy,” the report explains, citing that “the percentage of firms requiring 0 days per week in office has decreased from 32% to 25%,” while the “percentage of firms requiring 3 days per week in office has increased from 19% to 28%.”

Finally, it’s important to note that when it comes to implementing the structured hybrid remote work model, most employers (79%) prefer to go for setting a minimum number of days per week (almost 3 days a week is required on average across U.S. companies who implement this), with only a small percentage opting for specific days each week (i.e. come into the office on Mondays and Fridays) or minimum percentage of work time (i.e. 40% of work hours per month should be clocked in at the office).

So where does all this leave you?

Is The Dream Of A Remote Job Fading Out?

If you’re looking to work fully remotely in 2025, you have a number of options. First, you could work for yourself as an independent contractor or freelancer. In this scenario, where you decide to work is completely down to you. You have full autonomy and can even control the hours that you work as well, to a large degree.

The next option you have is to try applying for roles at startups and small businesses. Many startups are seeking to attract top talent, therefore, as the remote job vacancy board at Y Combinator demonstrates, they are eager to hit the ground running with their product and would be happy to onboard remote workers from around the world. And as the FlexIndex report shows, small businesses (employing less than 500 workers) tend to be more favorable towards fully flexible work options.

Otherwise, if you prefer to work at any other type of organization, you can expect a structured hybrid setup to be most prevalent as a flexible work policy. This means that instead of you agreeing with your manager what works best for your schedule, a set minimum number of days, or certain days, will be allocated for you to work from the office.

Ultimately, the future of remote work is about transformation—not total disappearance. What 2025 holds for remote workers is down to individual choices of where (what employer and company type) and how (whether freelance or employed) you work.