The freelancer services marketplace Fiverr set out to investigate, polling 1,000 managers and executives in the United States.

Nearly half said that they plan to change their remote-working policies next year to force their teams back into the office. The reason? It supposedly makes them more productive.

A third of respondents believe employees are more motivated when they know they are being watched by their managers – which is a far cry from management by empowerment.

More than 40% of employers also believe that face-to-face meetings allow their employees to have easier access to company resources and equipment.

Another perceived benefit is that it leads workers to take fewer breaks than when they are (unsupervised) at home. At least, that’s what 25% of managers believe.

But money is still a key factor for a large part of the American bosses polled. The increase in working from home is a real thorn in the side of companies that rent their premises, many of whom despair at seeing so much square footage unoccupied.

In fact, it’s no wonder that one in four employers are in favour of returning to the office for purely financial reasons.

So, what about workers? They are very reluctant to go back to the way things used to be, after having experienced widespread remote working and the organisational freedom it allows.

More than 20% of the 1,000 employees surveyed by Fiverr say nothing could convince them to go to the office every day, as was the case a few years ago.

In fact, 42% of them go even further and say they would be ready to quit if forced to do so.

However, inflation and the cost-of-living crisis are causing most employees to be more measured. As such, 61% of respondents would be willing to come into the office occasionally in exchange for a pay raise.