ANALYSIS: Lawyer Work-From-Home Options Decrease During Endemic

As the Covid-19 pandemic becomes an endemic, masks and sanitizing stations aren’t the only things disappearing from law firms and corporations. The flexibility to work from home (WFH) is also diminishing as return-to-office (RTO) policies requiring in-office days increase, according to a recent Bloomberg Law survey.

At the beginning of 2023, Bloomberg Law asked 868 attorneys about their “current workplace situation.” Almost a quarter (24%) of overall respondents to the 2022 Workload & Hours Survey (H2) reported that they were fully in office. This percentage is double the percentage (12%) reported in spring 2022. And it isn’t just law firms pushing for RTO—both in-house and law firm attorneys reported an increase.

Inversely, the percentage of respondents who reported that they were fully remote has dropped. In 2022, 31% of respondents said that they were fully remote or had “complete flexibility” over their schedule. In 2023, the percentage of respondents who said that they were fully remote was down to 13%.

RTO: Sticks, Not Carrots

In the past few months, organizations have released a range of RTO policies requiring more days in the office at both law firms and corporations. BlackRock Inc., Walt Disney Co., and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. all announced four-days-a-week requirements, as have law firms such as Skadden and Davis Polk.

Attorneys who don’t abide by these policies may be risking their bonus pay—and their jobs. Multiple law firms, including Simpson Thacher and Sidley, have informed associates that failing to come into the office will cost them bonuses.

In addition, attorneys who fail to comply with RTO requirements may be at a higher risk of being laid off. Of the 75 Workload & Hour Survey respondents who said that their organizations had experienced layoffs in the last six months, 9% characterized the fired employees as having “not returned to the office.” Though this isn’t a large percentage, it indicates that a failure to follow RTO policies may be a factor when the ax falls on legal.

Last year, we reported that attorneys and employers were aligned on RTO and WFH policies. Now, as employers push for more in-office days, employees who aren’t on the same page may depart. Of those Workload & Hours Survey respondents who indicated that they were leaving or considering leaving their organizations, 31% said that a reason for leaving was “more flexibility/options to work remotely.” Law firms and corporate legal departments looking to retain top talent during the endemic and beyond should remain mindful of these trends.

Bloomberg Law subscribers can find related content on our  Surveys, Reports & Data Analysis, Legal Operations page, In Focus: Lawyer Development page, and In Focus: Lawyer Well-Being pages.

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