Survey: More Workers Accepting Return-to-Office Orders

In January 2025, MyPerfectResume asked American employees how they would respond to a return-to-office (RTO) mandate from their employer. More than half (51%) said they would quit before complying with such a directive.

One year later, the online resume builder asked the same question, with drastically different results.

In a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. workers, MyPerfectResume found just 7% of respondents saying they would leave their job rather than accept a forced return to in-office work.

“This dramatic decline signals a shift away from worker leverage toward a new phase of employer control—what many are calling the ‘Great Compliance,’” according to MyPerfectResume.

“Workers are bracing for a future that leans more heavily toward onsite work, tighter oversight and reduced bargaining power,” wrote MyPerfectResume’s Jasmine Escalera. “Remote work is no longer seen as a guarantee. It’s becoming a privilege workers feel they must protect.”

The survey also found 46% of respondents saying they expect organizations to become stricter about requiring onsite attendance in the days ahead, with 73% expecting employers to expand their use of surveillance tools to enforce accountability.

In addition, 44% said they believe that at least half of U.S. employers will have eliminated remote work altogether by the end of 2026.

The trend toward return-to-office directives is not a deal-breaker for many workers, however. For instance, just 33% of respondents said they would look for another remote job. In 2025, 40% indicated as much, according to MyPerfectResume.

“Remote work is being reframed not as a right, but as a negotiated benefit, one that fewer workers feel empowered to defend,” Escalera wrote.

“As job security tightens, companies are reclaiming authority over where and how employees work. For millions of workers, 2026 won’t be about resisting RTO. It will be about adapting to it.”