Three workplace trends have seen hype overtake the reality

Return-to-office, AI adoption and DEI dumping are all overhyped

- SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL

From a glance at 2024's top business headlines, you'd think all companies were pushing return-to-office (RTO) policies, embracing AI and banishing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes. But let's remember that headlines don't always reflect reality.

Start with RTO mandates. The media loves a scary back-to-office headline. From the point of view of clicks, a strict five-day-a-week policy is gold. Even better? If that policy applies to tech dweebs. Full points if it's a company that once promised to work remotely forever, like X when it was still Twitter. These headlines gain attention because they play to some readers' anxieties—and others' schadenfreude. But the reality is that most firms do hybrid work.

Even Elon Musk had to back off his declarations of full RTO at X; shortly after his initial demands, he conceded there'd be exceptions. He also shuttered some of the company's offices, meaning that all staff in those locations had to go fully remote.

I expect this duality to ramp up in 2025, with more companies announcing returns to the office even as most quietly shrink office space and retain hybrid arrangements. The bottom line: Badge-in data in the US has been close to flat for the past two years. Among workers whose jobs can be done remotely, hybrid arrangements remain the most common.