Workplace flexibility is at a crossroads. Seen by many as a benefit to come from the COVID-19 pandemic, the sentiments toward flexible working arrangements are quickly eroding, with companies and governments pushing return-to-work mandates to boost productivity and create the perceived thriving office cultures of old.

President Trump has mandated that United States federal employees return to in-person work, which could have a ripple effect in other markets, as the growing trend toward return-to-office policies in both the public and private sectors grows.

Media heavyweight WPP recently released a global mandate for its staff to return to the office four days a week, which will come into effect in April this year. In September last year, Amazon announced staff would be required to work from the office five days a week from January 2025, and JPMorgan employees are being required to return to the office five days a week beginning in March 2025. These are just a handful of household name brands that are adopting this approach.

In the United Kingdom, former boss of Marks and Spencer and supermarket chain Asda, Lord Rose, even went so far as to say that working from home was “not proper work” in an interview with BBC Panorama.

New ways of working

While there are, of course, sectors and contexts that require more in-person dynamics than others – particularly industries like healthcare, manufacturing, education and retail – the world and how we work has evolved considerably.

Such has been the rise of digital interactions, tools and touchpoints, research from Statista predicted that in 2025 the number of interactions per connected person per day worldwide would be almost 5,000.

Furthermore, the rise of collaboration and productivity software that enables people to work as collaboratively and efficiently from a beach in Vietnam as they would in an office is such that the worldwide market for these technologies is projected to grow by 2.21 percent (2025-2029), resulting in a market volume of US$88.6 billion in 2029.

According to Skyscanner, most people in the United States (77 percent) have thought about living a nomadic lifestyle at some point, and there are an estimated 40 million digital nomads worldwide.

Moreover, the World Economic Forum reveals that by 2030, the number of global digital jobs that can be performed remotely from anywhere is expected to rise by roughly 25 percent to around 92 million.

Some of the world’s most notable companies in their fields have recognized the benefits of remote workforces, with brands like VistaPrint, Spotify and Atlassian flying the flag. Spotify has even coined the slogan, ‘Our staff are not children’ in reference to trusting staff to work how and where they want.

A look at the numbers

There is skepticism around the productivity levels of employees working flexibly, but there’s data to suggest otherwise.

According to Gartner, when organizations deliver radical flexibility, compared with delivering flexibility only around when and where employees work, the percentage of employees defined as high performers increases by 40 percent. It cites the much-needed sense of autonomy it creates and the reduction in the risk of burnout.

Furthermore, research by the Australian HR Institute, which cited better work–life balance (77 percent), higher retention rates (62 percent) and a greater ability to attract candidates (61 percent) as the top three advantages of flexible working, says that more than four in 10 employers (43 percent) say that flexible working has had a positive effect on productivity levels at their organization, compared with just 10 percent who think it has had a negative effect.

Leading by example

As a CEO and business leader who advocates strongly for the benefits of remote and flexible work, I can vouch for the positive impact it has had on me and my team, both in terms of creativity and productivity.

Our remote-first policy at VistaPrint Australia trusts staff to work when, how and where they want, with collaboration hubs dotted around the world for staff to meet in person. Over the years, this has meant staff dialing in from all sorts of life pursuits, including one employee learning to be a ski instructor in Whistler, Canada – working asynchronously with the Australia team while doing so.

One key initiative that my team and I have installed is flipping Friday on its head to make it a day of true creativity for our staff. Formal activity stops before lunchtime and employees are encouraged to do microlearning sessions on activities like DJing, ethical hacking, hitting the golf course, learning to surf or learning the art of negotiation.

This is when you’ll sometimes find me pushing the lawnmower, earmuffs on and cooking up my best ideas.

Remote work and flexibility here to stay

While remote and flexible working arrangements are coming into question perhaps more than ever since the pandemic, in my opinion, its benefits far outweigh its drawbacks.

Of course, there are contexts that require face-to-face collaboration, and the value of that shouldn’t be overlooked – but cultures that treat staff as adults and trust them to get results how they want, regardless of their location, breed happiness and productivity in equal measure.

That’s why, on Fridays, you’ll find me mowing my lawn – and I encourage other leaders to do the same.

Opinions expressed by The CEO Magazine contributors are their own.