A study of U.S. S&P 500 firms found that employee job-satisfaction ratings declined after return-to-office (RTO) mandates, while the researchers found no significant change in firm financial performance or value. That is a result for the companies and period studied—not proof that every office policy harms employees or that RTO can never benefit a business.
What the study found
Researchers Yuye Ding and Mark (Shuai) Ma examined firms’ RTO mandates and changes in employee satisfaction and company outcomes. The University of Pittsburgh’s summary says they used Glassdoor job-satisfaction data and difference-in-differences regressions to compare ratings around mandate announcements, alongside measures of financial performance and firm value.
Ars Technica reported that the sample covered June 2019 through January 2023 and included 137 firms with mandates and 320 firms that clearly did not. Those counts and the period come from Ars’s reporting; the accessible study abstract does not give that breakdown. The study record describes the firms as U.S. S&P 500 companies.
Employee ratings fell
The researchers report a significant decline in employee job satisfaction after RTO mandates. The University of Pittsburgh summary identifies lower overall job satisfaction, work-life balance, and senior-management ratings. Ars also reports a decline in corporate-culture ratings, while ratings for factors it described as unrelated to RTO did not change.
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Fortune reported that 99% of the 137 firms with mandates saw a drop in overall satisfaction. That is a secondary report of the study, and the accessible primary abstract does not show how the figure was calculated. It should not be read as a verified primary statistic or as a measure of how much satisfaction fell.
Company performance and value did not significantly change
The researchers found no statistically significant change in firm financial performance or firm value after mandates. This means the study did not establish a significant improvement or decline on those measures; it does not demonstrate that the effects were exactly zero or that RTO could never affect a particular company.
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What the study can—and cannot—tell you
The findings concern reported employee ratings and company-level financial measures in large U.S. firms during a particular period. They do not establish that every worker prefers remote work, that every office visit is harmful, or that the results apply to smaller employers, other countries, or newer policies.
- Scope: The sample was S&P 500 firms, not a representative study of all employers or workers.
- Time frame: Ars notes that the observation period was short for assessing long-term effects and overlapped with a tight labor market. Both context and follow-up length limit conclusions about lasting effects or current labor-market conditions.
- What is not quantified here: The accessible records do not provide the effect sizes or enough detail to reproduce all variables, identification tests, and robustness checks. The findings support the reported direction and statistical significance, not a precise estimate of how large the changes were.
Which firms adopted mandates, and why that interpretation matters
The SSRN abstract reports that RTO mandates were more likely at firms with poor prior stock-price performance, more powerful CEOs, and male CEOs, and less likely where institutional ownership and board independence were higher. These are associations in the study, not proof that any particular executive had a specific motive.
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Ding and Ma say the pattern is “consistent with managers using RTO mandates to reassert control over employees and blame employees as a scapegoat for bad firm performance.” “Consistent with” is important: the analysis offers an interpretation of the observed associations, not direct evidence of executives’ intent.
How to read the result if you are weighing an office policy
The study gives employees and employers evidence about two distinct outcomes: satisfaction ratings fell after mandates in the sample, while the researchers found no significant change in financial performance or firm value. It does not compare every possible hybrid schedule, remote-work arrangement, or office strategy, so it cannot identify a universally best policy.
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The University of Pittsburgh summary suggests letting high-performing employees who do well at home remain remote and using monthly in-person team-building activities. Those are the researchers’ recommendations, not interventions tested by this study. Mark Ma, an associate professor at the Katz Graduate School of Business, said: “I think firms need to treat the employee more humanely and also give them more flexibility. I see no reason for these big firms to treat their employees more harshly because they’re working from home.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Study records and coverage
The paper’s SSRN record lists Yuye Ding and Mark (Shuai) Ma as authors and shows an initial posting on January 18, 2024, with a revision dated September 15, 2026. The Academy of Management Proceedings record lists an online publication date of July 9, 2024, and a print date of August 1, 2024; these are records from different versions and venues. Ars Technica’s coverage, published February 23, 2024, predates the later SSRN revision.
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- University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business: study summary and method overview
- SSRN: Ding and Ma paper record and abstract
- Academy of Management Proceedings: abstract and publication dates
- Ars Technica: sample details, findings, and study limitations
- Fortune: secondary report of the 99% figure
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