Last week’s snow related remote work has shown what flexibility actually delivers. Without long commutes and constant office disruption, productivity increases, work gets completed faster, and people are willing to put in more time because they have the capacity to do so. That does not happen under a rigid five day office mandate.
Five days in the office adds cost and friction without measurable gains. Real collaboration can happen in two to three days when needed, which is already the market standard. For distributed teams, forced presence changes nothing except morale.
Talent has already responded. High performers with options have left. Those who remain are disengaging. The employee survey made this clear.
As a communications company, forcing presence while selling “work from anywhere” is a strategic contradiction. Remote work for office roles is inevitable. The only question is whether we lead or fall behind.