Most managers in the US would fire workers or cut their pay if they refuse to return to the office full-time this year, survey shows

• A survey showed that 77% of managers would take action if workers refuse to return to the office.
• They were surveyed by GoodHire on their thoughts and feelings about remote work.

The majority of managers in the US would fire workers or cut their pay if they refused to return to the office full-time this year, according to a survey.

GoodHire, a company that does employment background checks, surveyed 3,500 American managers on their thoughts and feelings about remote work, return-to-office mandates, and their preferred working model.

Among the respondents, 77% shared that they would be willing to take action against employees who demanded to work fully remote. Such actions included firings, pay cuts, loss of promotion opportunities, loss of benefits, and loss of paid time off.

However, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shared data on April 1, showing that only 10% of employed Americans worked remotely in March. While Workhuman, which provides cloud-based, human capital management software solutions, surveyed 1,000 full-time US workers and found that 51% of workers were already required to return to the office full-time.

GoodHire did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours.

The survey conducted by GoodHire shows that 60% of all managers agreed incentives would be a good way to get people enthused about a full-time return to the office. They said they would either pay more for in-office work or include additional office perks, which include snacks, lunches, parties, and happy hours.

Meanwhile, just 10% would consider offering childcare options at the office.

Insider's Fortesa Latifi reported in March how some employees who were told to leave behind remote work and return to the office began to push back.

While most managers took a strong position regarding workers demanding remote working, more than half said they would cut pay, 29% replied they would not and 10% said they were not sure, per the findings.

The survey also showed that 51% of managers think employees wanted to return to the office full-time, while 49% were unsure and did not think employees wanted to return.

Managers shared that their biggest concerns about not having employees back in the office full-time were a lack of focus, due to personal commitments, struggles to create a company culture and keep employees engaged in remote environments, and concerns about overall productivity.

But productivity or engagement does not seem to be an issue as 73% of managers said both improved or stayed the same with remote work, compared with in-office work. While 68% of managers said a fully remote operation would either add to their profit or the bottom line would stay the same.

As Insider reported, throughout the pandemic, office employees have found many benefits of remote working, which they don't want to give up – whether that's the commute or a stronger say in schedules.

Since the start of the pandemic, only 5.5% of businesses have cut office space, while 3.6% have increased in size, according to data on private-sector businesses from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics published in February.