Return to Office Policies Trend Toward More In-Person Work

The Bay Area Council, in partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, conducted the Return to Office Survey in regular intervals from April 2021 to May 2024 to track changes to employer’s in-person work plans. The survey was put on hold after results largely stabilized from late 2023 to early 2024, however, after many prominent Bay Area employers announced changes to return to office policies in the second half of 2024, the Return to Office survey was renewed in February 2025 to see if and how these in-person work announcements were reflected in the data.

And the most recent data on return to office trends paints a picture of two key narratives: First, five years after our initial pandemic shutdowns, in-person work policies in the Bay Area are still changing and will continue to shift in the next six months to a year. Next, particularly when compared to this same time last year, the data continues to show a slow, but gradual trend toward more in-person work.  

While the latest survey results continue to show that the majority of employers have fully implemented their long-term policies for in-person and remote work, we also see in the data that the Bay Area as a workplace continues to evolve. According to the latest survey results, the frequency Bay Area workforces are coming into the office five days or more is ten percent higher than this time last year. Additionally, when asked what days of the week employees are coming into the office, every day of the week saw increased attendance as compared to this time last year, with the highest percentage changes on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. 

Additionally, when asked if the employer had changed their policy in the past six months, nearly 40% answered yes, and when asked if more plans are expected to change in the next 6 months, over 20% answered yes. When those who answered yes to changing policies in the next six months were broken down by company size, the data shows that mid to larger size employers outweigh smaller employers.

Other noteworthy highlights from the most recent round of the survey:

• The percentage of the workforce employers believe are taking transit at least some of the time to the office has remained steady since this time last year, coming in at 46.4% in the February 2025 survey
• The amount of time it takes to commute (73%) and preference for working at home (71%) continue to be the main reasons why employees do not come to the office more frequently
• The vast majority of employers, 93%, believe their current workplace policy is effective at achieving the in-person attendance they request or require

See the February Return to Office Survey results >>

Final reporting of all data collected from the Return to Office survey since April 2021, which will include a high-level analysis of key trends and learnings across 27 rounds of the survey, will be released this this summer. 

For more information on the Return to Office survey, please contact Policy Director Laura Hill at Lhill@bayareacouncil.org.