RiskRep Radar: The Politicization of Return to Office

Four years into the work-from-home experiment, the culture war is in full swing. Where you work has become a partisan issue.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say remote work is good for employee wellbeing (+13 percentage points), company bottom lines (+15 percentage points) and career advancement (+16 percentage points).

Republicans are more likely to say that it's frustrating to hear complaints about in-person work when so many frontline workers do it daily (+9 percentage points); and that work has traditionally been "in-person" and that's how it should be (+10 percentage points).

WFH is also a battle of generations. Millennials, along with Gen Z, are leading the WFH narrative and believe they have leverage over employers. In fact, 71% of Millennials believe they could readily seek out a job with higher pay. At the same time, Gen Z has a steep learning curve that WFH is not helping: 82% of managers say new Gen Z hires' soft skills need more development.