Will Office Premiums Lure Employees Back to In-Person Work?

As CEOs continue to push for return-to-office (RTO) mandates, are pay bumps the key to enticing employees back to an in-person workplace?

ZipRecruiter data from 2024 showed U.S. workers who traded fully remote for fully in-office setups through 2023 received a 29.2% pay bump — nearly double that of those moving the other way.

Additionally, Robert Half’s 2025 Salary Guide revealed that for jobs that can be done remotely, 66% of managers are willing to increase starting salaries for new hires to work in the office, and of those, 59% are offering workers up to 20% more pay to come in four to five days a week.

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“Compensation and flexible work options continue to be top priorities for both employees and job seekers,” said Michelle Reisdorf, a district president at Robert Half. “Our research reveals that 76% of U.S. job seekers would be open to working fully in-office in exchange for a higher salary. Among those, the average raise they said they would request is around 23%.”

Employees Still Want Flexible Work

Another Robert Half report found 37% of U.S. job seekers are interested in a fully remote position, while 60% would like a hybrid role.

This data aligns with findings from WorldatWork’s Total Rewards Inventory of Programs and Practices, as well as data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, that show hybrid and remote work continue to increase year-over-year, said Alicia Scott-Wears, a compensation content director at WorldatWork.

“We have all seen headlines regarding some organizations pushing for increased in-office hours and even five-day workweeks again, and certainly some are willing to pay higher starting salaries for new hires to have that arrangement, but does it come at a cost in other ways?” Scott-Wears said.

For example, flexible work is associated with greater employee well-being, whereas mandated RTO may present a retention challenge. A recent Owl Labs study found 40% of employees would look for a new job if they were no longer allowed to work hybrid or remote.

The pandemic also revealed previously hidden costs of working in the office, such as the roughly $61 per day spent on parking fees, gas or transit, coffee and meals.

“Organizations and managers should look closely at objective data to assess what variation of remote/hybrid/in-office arrangement meets the needs of their organization,” Scott-Wears said. “That said, if in-office is the necessary step for the organization, reporting indicates that increased compensation is the top option for luring employees back into the office.”

‘A Slippery Slope’

But while in-office premiums might seem like the go-to rewards lever, Tom McMullen, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry, said it’s not actually happening en masse — and he doesn’t expect that trend to change.

According to Korn Ferry’s November 2024 Global Total Rewards Pulse Survey, answered by total rewards leaders at more than 7,500 organizations, only 5% of companies had offered supplemental compensation for in-office attendance, and only 3% of additional organizations are considering the practice.

“This is a substantially different point of view between HR leaders who control and administer reward programs versus line managers who typically do not have this control,” McMullen said, adding that in-office premiums could be a “slippery slope” for organizations to consider.

Higher salaries for new hires could lead to pay compression down the line, and salary discrepancies between in-office and remote positions could also exacerbate pay equity issues as data shows women and BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of color) employees are more likely to prefer remote or hybrid work.

“The extra money paid for this and the resultant pay equity and communication issues are not worth the expenditure or the trouble,” McMullen said.

Focus on Value

Instead, McMullen advised to be straightforward in your communications with employees as to why the organization wants them back at least part of the time.

“Quite often, it is about accelerating employee development, which is most effective live and in-person versus virtually,” he said. “ In-person networking and collaboration also reinforces relationship building, trust, culture, innovation and the organization mission.”

McMullen said employers should also consider these other strategies to get people back to the office:

Provide flexible work arrangements (e.g., hybrid schedules, flexible hours to accommodate different employee needs and preferences).
Upgrade the office environment to improve productivity via ergonomic furniture, modern amenities, collaboration spaces.
Encourage social interaction and team-building activities.
Provide incentives such as education, social or wellness programs to make RTO more attractive.

“These benefits tend to be more beneficial to the organization and have an indirect impact on employees versus the more direct impact of the ability of working at home,” McMullen said.

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