A growing number of UK employees say they would rather quit than return to the office full-time, with women and some parents leading the resistance, according to new research.
Despite ongoing headlines about a “great return” to the workplace, a study by King’s College London finds no evidence of a widespread shift back to full-time office work. Instead, hybrid arrangements appear to be firmly embedded in the UK labour market.
The research, conducted by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and King’s Business School, analysed over 1 million records from the Labour Force Survey and 50,000 responses from the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes UK, covering early 2022 to the end of 2024.
It found that just 42% of UK workers would comply with a five-day-a-week office mandate, down from 54% in early 2022. Meanwhile, half of all workers (50%) said they would actively seek a new job with homeworking options if forced back into the office full-time.
Resistance has become more pronounced over time. The share of workers saying they would quit immediately if asked to return five days a week doubled from 5% to 10% over the two-year period. In total, 58% of workers now say they would either leave immediately (9%) or start job-hunting (49%) if full-time in-office attendance became compulsory.
Women and Parents Pushing Back
The data shows that women are more likely than men to resist rigid return policies. While 51% of men said they would quit or look for a new job in response to such a requirement, the figure rose to 64% for women.
Parents, particularly mothers of young children, also reported high levels of opposition. Just one in three (33%) mothers with young children said they would comply with a five-day office mandate. Among fathers of school-age children, resistance has grown from 38% in early 2022 to 53% by the end of 2024.
The report also noted that Black and minority ethnic workers are more likely to comply with return-to-office mandates, possibly due to job insecurity or fear of discrimination.
Hybrid Work Now the Norm
While employer rhetoric around returning to offices has grown, policies appear to have changed little. The proportion of women reporting home as their main place of work remained steady at 26–27% from early 2022 to late 2024. Among men, the figure hovered between 27% and 30%, with only a marginal recent decline.
The average number of days staff are permitted to work from home has slowly increased, from less than one day per week in 2022 to around 1.3 days in 2024. But fully remote arrangements are becoming less common, with a slight rise in policies limiting homeworking to one or two days a week.
According to the research dataset, one in four employees (25%) currently work remotely at least three days a week, while two in five (40%) do so at least once weekly.
Diversity ‘at Risk’
The researchers warn that strict office requirements may not only push employees out but also undermine organisational diversity and inclusion. Those with caring responsibilities, which is often women and parents, may be disproportionately affected, potentially widening workplace inequalities.
They also caution against the development of a “flexibility stigma”, where remote workers are penalised or overlooked, particularly when working from home is more common among mothers.
Rethinking Work
The report calls for a shift in employer mindset: to see flexibility as a strategic approach rather than a temporary concession. Businesses that fail to adapt risk losing talent and weakening their long-term competitiveness.
“An increasing amount of research shows that well-designed hybrid working models offer significant benefits for both employers and employees,” said Heejung Chung, professor of work and employment and director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, and lead author of the report.
“Alongside this, there has been a marked shift in attitudes, with workers now seeing flexibility as the norm. Managers need to understand and adapt to this new reality. Rather than forcing a return to pre-pandemic working patterns, organisations should be looking to formalise hybrid models, invest in remote collaboration tools, and set up coordinated in-office days to maximise engagement,” she said.
Professor Chung advised that in situations where it’s possible, “workers should feel emboldened to hold their ground in the face of return-to-office mandates, as the weight of the evidence demonstrating remote working does not harm productivity is growing.”
She added that “many studies are finding flexible workers tend to work longer and harder compared to those who do not work flexibly, and, importantly, those who are able to work remotely tend to be more loyal and committed to their jobs.”