Everywhere I look right now, senior leaders are going back to the office. Sometimes by choice, sometimes because the CEO has said “enough Zoom, get back in.” Either way, it’s happening.
The days of senior execs permanently working in their spare rooms while running board calls are done.
But what does that mean for recruitment?
🔄 The big shift
We’ve all seen the headlines.
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In the UK, hybrid job postings that once said “one day in the office” now quietly say “two or three.” The Guardian reported 85% of new roles in 2025 carry an in-office requirement, up from 77% last year.
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BlackRock recently told its MDs to get back in the office five days a week. If the people at the very top can’t dodge it, neither can the layer below.
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JPMorgan, Amazon, Nike, the global giants. are tightening their return-to-office rules. Three or more days is becoming standard.
And this isn’t just because leaders like watching people at their desks. It’s about visibility, culture, mentoring, collaboration, and yes sometimes, control.
McKinsey put it well: companies are at risk of obsessing about where people work rather than how they work.
🎯 Why this matters in recruitment
This isn’t just an HR policy shift. It changes how we hire, how we speak to job seekers about roles, and what candidates walk away from.
1. Flexibility has become a dealbreaker
Business Insider found 36% of senior candidates quit a hiring process when they discovered a rigid office mandate. Imagine getting all the way to final interview and then losing someone because of Tuesday-to-Thursday rules.
2. You risk losing the leaders you already have
An academic study this year showed that RTO mandates correlate with higher attrition of long-tenured, senior staff. That’s right: the people you most want to keep are the ones who walk first.
3. It shrinks the candidate pool
A King’s College London report found only 42% of workers would comply with a full five-day RTO. Translation: more than half your candidate market will tune you out if that’s the deal.
4. “Do what I say, not what I do” kills trust
If senior leadership tells people to be in the office but they themselves aren’t there, it erodes credibility faster than a bad Glassdoor review. Candidates notice and so do existing staff.
🏫 Why senior leaders should be present
Here’s the bit that often gets lost: being physically present is part of the job at senior level.
Leadership isn’t just about steering strategy from a laptop, it’s about teaching, modelling, and transferring knowledge.
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Junior and mid-level staff need to see how senior leaders operate.
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Those corridor conversations, the shadowing, the “watch me handle this” moments, they can’t be replicated on Teams.
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Culture doesn’t cascade through email. It’s learned through proximity, through observing behaviours in real time.
If you’re in the C-suite or heading that way, your role isn’t just deliverables. It’s stewardship. And stewardship requires presence.
That’s not to say leaders should chain themselves to desks five days a week, far from it. But “out of sight, out of mind” is a dangerous look when you’re meant to be setting the tone.
🛠 What good recruitment looks like now
So, what do we do? Pretend the office wars don’t exist? Or rewrite job specs with more honesty?
Here are five things I’m telling clients:
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Be explicit in job descriptions. Don’t hide the hybrid line in the small print. If it’s three days a week in the office, say so. Candidates will respect you for it.
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Make office time meaningful. Anchor days work, town halls, strategy sessions, mentoring. If it’s just coming in to sit on Teams calls in a different chair, you’ll lose people fast.
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Sweeten the commute. Commuting is the biggest pain point. Think travel stipends, flexible start times, or even regional hubs. Little changes go a long way.
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Listen for red flags during interviews. If candidates are vague or resistant about office presence, dig deeper. Better to tackle that upfront than lose them at offer stage.
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Lead by example. If you’re senior and you expect presence, be present. Visibility cuts both ways.
🔍 My take
I’ve said it before: recruitment isn’t about selling fairy tales, it’s about telling the truth.
Senior leaders are going back to the office. Sometimes it’s voluntary, sometimes it’s demanded. And in truth? At that level, it’s the right thing to do.
Because leadership is about more than numbers and board packs. It’s about setting the culture, teaching the next generation, and being visible when it matters.
The challenge for recruitment is not persuading candidates if they should go back, but showing them why it matters and building roles that make presence purposeful.
Flexibility is still the baseline. But leadership requires visibility. And that balance is where the best hires will be won or lost.
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About the author
I’m Robert Kenward. Chief Talent Officer, creator of FitabilityⓇ, and the only recruiter daft enough to build a 12-month guarantee into every hire.
Two decades in recruitment, Live Events, Brand Experience, and Experiential Marketing means I’ve seen it all, from the candidate chair, the client side, and as the recruiter trusted to fix the mess when things go wrong.
That’s why I specialise in senior hires above £60k. I know the pain points, I know the issues, and I know how to get it right first time (96% of the time, in fact 👀).
I take the work seriously, but not myself and I’ll always give you time, candour, and a fresh perspective on those classic hiring headaches.
📱 07710 681980
