A female-led resistance to employer Return To Office (RTO) mandates appears to be taking shape.
King’s College London (KCL) found that only 42% of workers would honour an RTO mandate — with women being “less likely” than men to comply.
The findings of the KCL study, published on May 21st 2025, coincide with a closed, but now deliberating ‘hybrid work’ inquiry by the House of Lords.
‘One million-plus observations from the LFS analysed’
KCL analysed over 1million observations from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), and 50,000 responses from the Survey of Working Arrangements & Attitudes UK (SWAA).
But speaking to Women In Tech.co.uk, technology recruiters weren’t unanimous about the headline finding — that most workers, led by women, would resist RTO edicts.
Before those reactions (below), KCL’s other key findings, are:
What King’s College London says about Return To Office mandate-resistance: top 3 findings
- Out of the 58% of workers who would fight an RTO mandate, 55% of the women said they would seek a new job, compared with 43% of the men.
- New parents show the highest resistance to RTO mandates, with only 33% of mothers with young children signalling RTO mandate compliance.
- RTO mandates can “undermine gender diversity, talent retention, and workforce wellbeing, particularly by forcing out workers, often mothers, who cannot comply due to caregiving responsibilities.”
What King’s College London says about working from home (WFH) and remote jobs: top 4 findings
- Working from home (WFH) rates have “remained stable” between 2022 and 2025 (less than 1 day in 2022 versus 1.3 days in 2024).
- Employer policies have “not shifted significantly toward eliminating remote work,” but there is “evidence to show that employers are less likely to allow full-remote working.”
- When WFH is carried out by parents, managers are more likely to stigmatise such ‘WFH parents’ and “view them as not committed.”
- Flexible and hybrid working models are not only preferred by the bulk of workers but are increasingly seen as “necessary for modern employment practices.”
Natalie Bowers, founder of niche staffing agency Bowers Partnership, says WFH or ‘remote’ is indeed now par the course according to female IT job candidates.
‘Office-first requirement was a deal-breaker’
“Especially among women in tech, ‘flexibility’ when it comes to work location isn’t a perk anymore, it’s expected,” Bowers said yesterday to Women In Tech.co.uk.
She added: “When recently recruiting for investment companies, a few brilliant candidates walked away the moment that they heard [that the role was] ‘office-first.’
“Another female tech job candidate recently told me, ‘If they don’t trust me to work from home, they’re not the right employer for me.’
Indicating that she wouldn’t be surprised if women in IT (more actively than men) resisted RTO mandates, Bowers said the approach of the tech candidate who walked away “says it all really.”
‘Men equally as interested as women in hybrid/remote telecoms and tech jobs’
But Pendy Hou of technical jobs agency First Point Group says he hasn’t noticed female techies seeking out “hybrid or remote” options “more” actively than men.
And so it probably doesn’t track for Hou, who recruits for tech and telecoms companies, that women would be more resistant than men to RTO mandates.
Not that any First Point Group clients in London (where Hou operates from) have issued any “full” return-to-office ultimatums, he says.
‘Strongest tech candidates prioritise WFH roles’
“To be honest, our experience is that [WFH] is very important for both men and women,” Hou told Women In Tech.co.uk in statement.
“We’d agree that the WFH is very much sought-after by candidates, especially the stronger [ones] with options of opportunities available to them.”
‘Aligning expectations is key to avoid IT job candidates cutting and running’
But “fortunately” for the tech and telecoms recruitment agency, it hasn’t yet had a candidate withdraw from an IT role “due to a lack of flexibility.”
To avoid such an awkward, even costly ordeal, Hou advises IT employer to ensure their recruiters ‘align expectations’ with candidates beforehand.
‘No clear trend of a mass return-to-office’
According to the KCL study, 9% of the women who would object to an RTO mandate would quit, compared to 8% of the men.
Despite some big-name employers insisting on a return to ‘on-site’ working in January 2025, “there is no clear trend of a mass return to the office”.
King’s College London expanded on its assessment of the LFS data:
“Despite the numerous headlines during the period of 2023-2024,” KCL said, “we do not see a steep decline in the number of workers who work from home after the pandemic.”
‘No evidence of a significant Return-To-Office pattern’
Turning to the SWAA data (also pre-2025), King’s College London concluded broadly the same — citing “no evidence of a significant RTO pattern”.
But there were two quirks, according to Prof Heejung Chung, director of King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, and Shiyu Yuan, KCL research assistant.
‘Slight increase in working from home just 2 days a week’
First, a “slight decrease” appears in the number of workers who WFH “5+ days a week,” coinciding with a “slight increase” in the number who WFH “2 days a week.”
Second, workers may be going into the workplace “slightly more often,” albeit when compared to the period just after covid lockdown (early 2022).
However, even then, “there does not seem to be any major shakeups in the levels of homeworking during the period we observe,” says KCL.
‘Three days a week is most popular hybrid job arrangement’
Asked yesterday by Women In Tech.co.uk for its experience of RTO mandates, Hays cited its 2025 survey of 8,000 employers and candidates.
The FTSE-listed recruiter found that the “most popular” WFH arrangement is three days a week in the workplace.
Further in line with the KCL study, Hays found that almost half of workers would not support an RTO mandate.
Yet the near 50% of RTO mandate resistance workers would respond more drastically.
‘Fewer than 1 in 10 employers with RTO mandates’
In fact, although not even 10% of employers had an RTO “plan”, the Hays poll of (Feb 2025) shows nearly half of workers will quit if an RTO edict is issued.
King’s College London indicates that, based on the LFS and SWAA findings, such departing, and clearly disgruntled candidates would not have to very far to look a ‘WFH-friendly’ employer.
‘Work-from-home genie is out of the bottle’
“The number of workers stating that they would quit or look for a new job…indicates workers’ confidence”.
“[Specifically] that even if their managers [did] claw back the opportunities to work from home, that they are likely to find other companies and jobs that allow homeworking,” Prof Chung said, adding:
“In other words, from our data, we can see that the working from home genie is in fact out of the bottle and is unlikely to return.”
Last night, jobs experts that place women in IT roles signalled to Women In Tech.co.uk that employers are aware that ‘remote, hybrid, and home-based’ are irreversible.
‘Tech candidates won’t apply for roles with less flexibility’
First Point Group’s Mr Hou said: “We have seen that candidates will not apply for opportunities where there is less flexibility on remote working.
“[However] our clients are happy to continue with the hybrid model. [And this] has allowed [them] to be competitive with attracting the best talent.”
‘Relatively high chunk of roles are hybrid’
Hiring giant Indeed.com pointed Women In Tech.co.uk to its latest research.
It shows that “hybrid work” represents a “relatively high” proportion of vacancies across the Indeed platform.
Specifically, hybrid roles account for 14.6% of roles on the platform (as of Dec 2024), down from “a peak” of 16.3% in May 2024, but significantly up from 3% pre-pandemic.
‘Homeworking for parents is likely seen as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy’
Yet an even greater keenness for their projects not to forego the required skills would probably see employers reset some hiring managers’ attitudes.
The KCL study found that when it comes to parents who request WFH, managers are “more likely” to stigmatise them and view them as not committed.
“Rather than this being due to homeworkers’ actual commitment, motivation or productivity, this is largely based on the status characteristics and linkages managers and other workers may make with regards to homeworkers,” Prof Chung explained.
“In other words, when homeworking is associated largely with parents, or even worse just mothers, it is likely to be seen only as a DEI or work-life balance policy, rather than a policy that can enhance performance outcomes for companies.”
‘Women are running households and smashing it at work’
From Bowers Partnership’s office in Wadhurst, East Sussex, the reaction was swift and condemning.
“The idea that parents who want to WFH are less committed?
“That’s outdated and borderline insulting,” Ms Bowers said.
“Most women I speak to are running households and smashing it at work. Expectations have shifted post-covid — that’s just evolution.”
‘Supporting multiple organisations with RTO edicts’
According to Hays’s Feb 2025 research, 58% of women would walk if their hybrid working arrangements were removed, versus only 42% of men who would quit.
This strong alignment with KCL’s headline finding — that females are readier to depart if forced back to the workplace, might unsettle one female tech staffing supplier who declined to comment to Women In Tech.co.uk, on the basis, “we have multiple clients who we have supported with full return to the office policies”.
Simon Moore
Managing Director at Moore News Ltd, Simon Moore is a journalist with NCTJ-approved journalism training, who has worked inside the newsrooms of local, consumer and national media titles.
He today writes news and features for trade publications specialising in freelancing, small business and the self-employed. Simon’s articles have been linked to by The Daily Telegraph and the biggest newspaper website in the world, MailOnline.
