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Office Culture Office Cost

“Teamwork makes the dream work” and “culture thrives in the office” might be the official reasons companies give for return-to-office (RTO) mandates. But let’s be real—empty desks are expensive. So, while productivity and collaboration sound nice, the real MVP in this debate might just be a pricey lease agreement.

A new resume.org survey reveals the not-so-secret reason behind many RTO policies: long-term office leases.

Out of 900 business leaders surveyed, one in three admitted that their RTO push is tied to these leases, many of which stretch into 2028 or beyond. Some companies locked in contracts pre-pandemic—back when remote work was a distant cousin to casual Fridays—and now they’re stuck paying for unused spaces.

Here’s the breakdown: 21% of leases date back to before 2017, 22% were signed between 2017 and 2019, and the rest were inked post-2020—perhaps by leaders who believed Zoom fatigue would force us all back sooner.

Still, the future isn’t entirely cubicle-bound. About 30% of companies plan to have employees in the office full-time by 2025, while others are eyeing hybrid setups with three or four in-office days. A small group, however, remains flexible.

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It seems like CEOs are playing a corporate game of musical chairs—except the music stopped for about 2,000 of them in the past 11 months. From Starbucks to Subway, top execs have been stepping down, retiring, or mysteriously disappearing faster than ever.

This year marks the highest number of CEO exits since 2002, with 167 departures in just the last month, including Subway’s John Chidsey and Dollar Tree’s Rick Dreiling. Interestingly, 13% of replacements in 2024 are interim CEOs—a sharp rise from 7% in 2023. 

The most popular excuse for leaving? They “stepped down.” (Sure.) Nearly 500 companies didn’t even bother explaining, while others cited retirement or new opportunities. Only 10 exits were tied to misconduct allegations.

Non-profits and government organizations led the exodus with 438 CEO changes, followed by healthcare, tech, entertainment, and finance. It seems even the big leagues can’t dodge the leadership shuffle.

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Some More Year-End Trends

Current economic indicators suggests continued labor market resilience in 2025. As we enter 2025, several data points and trends will tell us where we are headed. 

Job growth declined in 2024 with nearly 75% of new jobs clustered in just three sectors: healthcare and social assistance, government, and leisure and hospitality. This heavy reliance on a few industries is already a concern—and it could become a bigger issue in 2025 if growth in these sectors starts to taper off.

Average hourly wage growth has slowed for most workers, and posted wage growth has settled at a solid year-over-year pace of 3.2%, down significantly from a recent peak of 9.4% in late 2021. 

The will to work seems more important than experience now. The share of job postings with a specific experience requirement has fallen in recent years, from 40% in October 2022 to 32.6% in October 2024, after flattening over much of the previous year. If the labor market picks up in 2025, then the share of job postings requiring particular years of experience could begin falling again.

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