Remote work is far from dead — it's just learned to live in the shadows. Think of a big-name company, and there's a good chance it's rolled out a return-to-office mandate in the past couple of years. Amazon, AT&T, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Paramount Skydance have adopted a five-day-a-week office mandate, while Microsoft, Intel, and Starbucks have tightened their hybrid policies. As of the second quarter of 2025, a majority of Fortune 100 employees were subject to a full-time office mandate —