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If you have been told to come back to the office more often, you may have wondered what is behind it. Is it culture and collaboration, property costs, or a quiet worry that people are not working at home? A 2025 global survey asked employers and employees directly. It shows what both sides believe about trust, but it cannot show what is in any manager’s mind.

What the researchers did

The Cisco Global Hybrid Work Study 2025 was published by the technology company Cisco. It is based on a double-blind survey of 21,513 employers and employees in full-time roles across 21 markets, carried out in April 2025. The report calls it a double-blind survey but does not explain the term in the pages we read.

The survey covered how organisations set office attendance policies, how employers and employees see the benefits, and how each group thinks about productivity, culture, technology and trust. Employees and employers were asked the same kinds of questions, which makes it possible to compare their views.

This is perception research. It records what people believe and report, not independent measures of productivity, and not records of why any organisation actually adopted its policy.

What they found

The report found a clear disconnect between employers and employees about the reasons for return-to-office policies, especially around trust. Large majorities on both sides said that office mandates stem partly from a lack of trust in remote productivity. The report summary puts the share of employees at 77 per cent and the share of employers at 81 per cent. Elsewhere in the same report the employee figure is given as 78 per cent, so this article describes it as roughly three in four employees.

In other words, employers largely agreed with the suspicion employees held. The report describes this as a misalignment between how productivity is measured by employers and how it is experienced by employees.

The report also found differences by sector in how likely employees were to believe this. Those working in business services, technology services and manufacturing were among the most likely, and those in healthcare were among the least likely.

Other findings in the report give context. Most people ranked collaboration and community as very important parts of office culture, and a sense of belonging and working with team members were top reasons for employees to want more time in the office. So trust is only one of several themes. The report also notes that half of respondents said their organisation had reduced its real estate footprint in the past five years.

What this does and does not show

The key point is that these are perceptions. When a large majority of employees say mandates reflect distrust, that tells us what employees think. It does not tell us the true motives of managers. Employers’ own agreement, at 81 per cent, is a stronger sign, but it is still a survey answer, and a person can agree that distrust plays a part without it being the main reason.

The survey does not show whether office attendance, hybrid work or home working produces better results, and it does not show that trust causes any outcome.

The percentages vary slightly within the report, and the global employee figure is quoted as 77 per cent in one place and 78 per cent in another. This is why we avoid a single exact number.

The survey covers 21 markets. Australian workplaces, awards and agreements differ, and what your employer can require depends on your contract and the rules that apply to you. Nothing here is Australian workplace or legal advice. If you are unsure what your employer may require, check your contract or agreement, or contact an appropriate advisory or union service.

For teams, the report’s message is that return-to-office decisions may land better when the reasons are explained and discussed, and when trust is built rather than assumed. Whether that would work in your workplace is a question the survey cannot settle.

Questions to ask

• When my workplace sets attendance expectations, are the reasons explained, and do they match what I see and hear?
• How does my team show its work and results, and does that give people confidence whether they are at home or in the office?
• What would I want my manager to know about how I work best, and have I said it?

Source: Navigating Hybrid Work: Strategies in the Evolving Workplaces (Cisco Global Hybrid Work Study 2025)

Conceptual illustration of trust and expectations in hybrid work. AI-generated editorial illustration. This article summarises published research in our own words and is general information, not personal health advice.