How free food incentivises workers to return to the office

Some companies offer lavish, restaurant-style amenities for on-site employees, including buffet breakfasts, free cafés, and gourmet lunches. Other companies maintain minimal kitchen provisions and expect mandatory in-office days without enhancing workplace experience. Surveys show strong employee preference for flexibility: 93% of remote-capable workers want hybrid or fully remote arrangements, and 64% of exclusively remote workers would likely job-search if flexibility were removed. Employee willingness to accept commutes depends on meaningful reasons to be in office. The pandemic accelerated remote work adoption, shifting workplace expectations and creating a corporate identity tension over office value propositions.

"Honestly," he said, "it felt less like an office and more like a five star restaruant." He described a buffet style breakfast with daily specials, a free cafe, and a fully stocked fruit and salad bar. The picture he showed me from lunch was a plate loaded with roasted chicken, seafood, and linguine. All of it was free. I asked if the food was any good. He just laughed. "Good? I would have paid for it."

Meanwhile, many other companies with return to office mandates came with no frills. For them, the office kitchen has the same sputtering coffee machine and sad empty refrigerator it did in 2019. Memos announcing mandatory three-in-office days speak of "synergy" and "in person collaboration," but the reality for many is a costly commute, working with co-workers that aren't even part of your team. This is where you start to see the major corporate identity crisis among workplaces.

The preference for flexibility is nearly universal: 93% of remote capable employees want either a hybrid (60%) or fully remote (30%) work arrangement. The same Gallup research revealed that 64% of exclusively remote employees would be "extremely likely" to search for a new job if that flexibility were taken away. Other studies, like one from SHRM, show a consistent majority of workers favoring a hybrid model over being fully in office.

Read at Medium