American multinational retail giant Gap Inc. has begun requiring employees who live nearby to return to the office more frequently starting in February, the company confirmed to The Epoch Times on Feb. 11.
The apparel retailer said the move is aimed at strengthening in-person collaboration and “fostering an even stronger community across Gap Inc.”
Gap had around 85,000 employees globally as of Feb. 3, 2024, with 82 percent located in the United States, according to Statista.
It is the latest large company to require its employees to return to the office five days a week.
Over the past few months, Amazon, AT&T, and Dell have mandated that employees return to the office five days per week. Others, such as IBM and Salesforce, have introduced return-to-office policies that require three or four days a week.
“The advantages of having workers in the office include increased collaboration, better team cohesion, improved mentoring opportunities, and greater control over productivity,” North Carolina career consultant Matthew Warzel told The Epoch Times last week.
Amazon announced a return-to-office mandate in September 2024 that went into effect on Jan. 2, 2025.
At the time, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement that the policy will help the company better innovate, collaborate, and stay connected to deliver the best results for customers and the business.
“We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID,” Jassy wrote.
“Before the pandemic, it was not a given that folks could work remotely two days a week, and that will also be true moving forward—our expectation is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances.”
Warzel noted that big companies issuing full-time in-office work mandates “may set a precedent for the private sector as it suggests the value of face-to-face interactions in certain government roles.”
“It might lead to increased pressure on companies to normalize office returns, signaling a broader cultural shift away from remote work,” Warzel added.
According to the latest Resume Templates survey of 849 managers, 27 percent of businesses will have returned to the traditional five-days-a-week in-office practice by the end of 2025. Some 22 percent have already implemented such changes, and 5 percent plan to do so.Meanwhile, the survey shows that only 6 percent of businesses expect to remain fully remote throughout 2025.
This trend of returning to the full on-site work model is, to a large extent, the result of big companies leading the way, according to the Resume Templates survey. It shows that more than half (54 percent) of companies said they have been at least somewhat influenced by major corporations implementing stricter return-to-office policies.
At the same time, the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate for federal employees has been influential.
The Resume Templates survey found that 35 percent of companies have factored the mandate into their own return-to-office decisions.
However, according to Mike Szczesny, owner of EDCO Awards & Specialties, a Florida-based supplier of employee recognition products—such as award plaques and branded merchandise—workers have grown accustomed to the flexibility and work-life balance that remote jobs offer.
“A considerable number of employees appreciate the ability to tailor their workdays to their needs, and this level of flexibility improves their job satisfaction and well-being,” Szczesny told The Epoch Times.
California career coach Kyle Elliott predicts that companies offering more flexible working arrangements will have less difficulty retaining talent.
“Companies will have a difficult time convincing current employees to return to the office when they’ve been working remotely for several years,” he said. “Employees now know they have options and find remote and hybrid options appealing.”
“Following the mandates of your employer is essential whether you agree with a return to office mandate or not,” Andrew Jernigan, founding member of The Future of Work Alliance, told The Epoch Times.
“It’s your duty of loyalty as an employee, in contrast to the duty of care as an employer. It is a time to decide if you want to stay employed there or seek a role elsewhere that grants the freedom you desire and has the culture where you can thrive.”
