Several large firms from Amazon to Zoom are bringing workers back into the office either on a hybrid schedule or fully in office, according to reports. On the other hand, remote work still has plenty of proponents.

Within the staffing industry, fully remote work is prevalent among internal employees. In a survey of internal workers, SIA research found that 45% work remotely five days a week. However, that is trending downward from a high of 68% in 2020.

The remainder of the respondent pool is split between being fully on site, 27%, and hybrid, 28%.

Survey respondents reported such disadvantages of remote work as less communication, missing office energy/camaraderie, distractions from family and loss of access to office resources. Of course, advantages were noted as well, including fewer distractions, flexibility to deal with personal issues, avoiding commute and working at one’s own pace.

Right now, it appears more firms are seeing value in returning to the office either five days per week or a hybrid schedule such as being in the office three days per week.

For example, Amazon is bringing back workers into the office five days per week, the way it was before the pandemic, according to a post by CEO Andy Jassy.

“When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Jassy writes.

It’s easier for teammates to learn, model, practice and strengthen our culture, Jassy adds. In addition, collaboration, brainstorming and inventing are simpler and more effective. Teaching and co-workers learning from one another works better too. Amazon is seeking workers back in the office five days per week, but research from Stanford University found that a hybrid approach — working remotely for only days per week — brings a lot of benefits.

“If managed right, letting employees work from home two or three days a week still gets you the level of mentoring, culture-building and innovation that you want,” Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford economist, said in the Stanford Report. “From an economic policymaking standpoint, hybrid work is one of the few instances where there aren’t major trade-offs with clear winners and clear losers. There are almost only winners.”

Research by the American Staffing Association also found that 68% of Americans prefer a hybrid or in-person work schedule.

The staffing industry is also part of the split, with many favoring remote and others favoring hybrid, or in-person.

Leaders of SearchPros, a Sacramento, California-headquartered staffing firm, prefer an on-site presence, though it has taken a hybrid approach: Internal workers must come in at least three days per week.

A lot of work in the staffing industry involves feel and experience, CEO Myla Ramos told me at a recent site visit, and having people on site builds that.

“It’s important that you can hear each other communicate,” she said.

The company also does a lot to bring its team together and build engagement.

SearchPros treats its internal staff along with one guest to an annual cruise; this year’s trip is to the Bahamas. The company also hosts outings to Sacramento River Cats baseball games and comedy shows. And it takes part in a number of charitable activities, from supporting the St. John’s Shelter for Women and Children in Sacramento to adopting a family for Christmas. The perks don’t hurt, either: After five years at the firm, internal workers get a car — a Tesla.

“That’s part of what keeps the team together,” Ramos told me. “We do so much stuff together.”

And it’s working for SearchPros, which is celebrating its 20-year anniversary.

Some companies have found success on the fully remote end of the spectrum, such as healthcare staffing firm Lucid Solutions. Kyle Morey-Leber, its chief strategy officer, shared with me its strategies to maintain engagement earlier this year.

Which model works best? That likely depends on a staffing firm’s own culture. The important part is to make sure workers stay engaged.