The return-to-office rollback

How RTO mandates are erasing decades of progress

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Sarah, a 42-year-old marketing director, just turned down a promotion because the new role requires daily office presence she can't manage with school pickups and sports commitments.

Sarah isn't real - but her story is playing out in thousands of offices right now, as our survey data shows 47% of workers face mandates requiring three days in the office, 81% prefer just two days.

We stand at a crossroads. After decades of fighting for workplace equality and inclusion, return-to-office (RTO) mandates are systematically undoing the progress we've made in creating diverse, accessible workplaces. Our statistics gathered from Parity Consulting's recent salary survey released in July 2025 does not just report a gap but a chasm that's deepening existing inequalities and pushing our most vulnerable workers to the margins.

Trump's impact and the free run for regressive policies

When federal DEI enforcement disappeared, so did corporate accountability. What took decades to build is being dismantled in quarterly earnings calls. With shifting federal priorities around DEI initiatives, business leaders who were never truly committed to these values now have political cover to implement regressive policies. The rebranding of DEI programs to generic "inclusion" initiatives signals a retreat from the specific, measurable goals that drove meaningful change.