As companies and the federal government continue bringing workers back, 2025 is shaping to be the year of return-to-office mandates, according to a new survey by jobs website Indeed.

Among remote and hybrid workers surveyed, 42% have been asked to return to the office full time, and 53% expressed a positive outlook on the transition.

Meanwhile, 42% of workers surveyed, whether employed full or part time or currently job-seeking, reported applying for a job specifically because it was listed as fully remote. The survey noted this figure rose to 57% for women between the ages of 35 and 44.

Additionally, 48% of respondents who sought remote jobs have children in the household or parent a child under 18.

Top return-to-office barriers for remote and hybrid employees include:

• Commute time, 47%
• Costs not covered by salary, 28%
• Need to purchase clothes, 28%

This survey was conducted online within the US by The Harris Poll on behalf of Indeed from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3 among 1,314 US adults ages 18 and older employed full time or part time or seeking employment. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 3.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.