Is the 'Return to Office' Debate Over? Most Employees Want Flexibility, According to a New Survey. More than half of Americans are working in the office again. But not by choice.
By Erin Davis Edited by Melissa Malamut
Gen Z and Baby Boomers have more in common than you think.
LinkedIn released its latest Workforce Confidence survey this week, and one thing is for sure: Americans don't want to work in the office every day.
The survey (conducted between Sept. 9 and Oct. 20, 2023) asked 8,960 U.S.-based professionals how they prefer to work (remote, hybrid, or in-office), and 58% said they prefer to work hybrid or remote. Only 39% of employees wanted to be in an office full-time.
The answers also varied greatly by generation. Millennials (ages 27 to 41) preferred to be fully remote the most (33%), followed by 29% of Gen X (ages 43 to 58) respondents.
Despite being labeled as "lazy" and "not wanting to work," 42% of employed Gen Z respondents (age 26 and under) overwhelmingly wanted to be back in the office. Baby Boomers (ages 59 to 77) agreed—50% responded that they want to be fully back in the office, the most of the age groups.
Only 19% of Gen Z workers said they prefer to work remotely—due to "FOMO" over things happening in the office without them and not getting enough interactions with more senior colleagues, per LinkedIn.
As of August 2023, over half (54%) of American employees surveyed work mostly onsite.
See the full report, here.
