The Covid-19 pandemic dramatically reshaped the landscape of work. Many transitioned to remote work to mitigate the risk of transmission. This shift also granted workers greater flexibility and eliminated commuting. 

Mark Ma, associate professor of Business Administration and the Ben L. Fryrear Early Career Faculty Fellow, adjusted his work schedule during the pandemic to care for his young son.

As the virus threat receded, companies reconsidered their workplace policies for remote work as well as return-to-office (RTO) mandates. Ma, in collaboration with PhD student Yuye Ding, decided to research the impact. They identified Standard and Poor’s 500 firms with RTO mandates and then examined the effect on employees, including job satisfaction data from Glassdoor. The consequences for shareholders were then assessed through research of financial performance and firm values.

The Results

“Our findings are consistent with employees’ concerns that managers use RTO for power grabbing and blaming employees for poor performance. We provide evidence that RTO mandates hurt employee satisfaction but do not improve a firm’s performance. We believe our empirical evidence can better assist managers and shareholders in assessing the value of adopting an RTO mandate and offers guidance for firms in crafting effective workplace policies after the pandemic.”

With the ongoing debates about remote and in-person work, the research has generated international attention. News coverage has ranged from the Washington Post, Forbes, and Barron’s to the BBC and Toronto Star along with Psychology Today. Ma says this research is his proudest career accomplishment — and he hopes the findings will make the workplace better for everyone.

“Returning to the office and workplace flexibility are important social issues that affect millions of people. I am proud that my study contributes to this important debate,” he told Higher Education Digest. 

“The ultimate goal of business research should be to change the real business world and change how the economy works. Only if we work on timely and relevant issues, can we inform real business debates and help businesses make better decisions,” says Ma.