Return-to-Office Rules Are Tightening in 2026

Return-to-office rules are getting stricter again, and not just in one industry. The last two weeks delivered a clear signal: companies are replacing "flexible" policies with specific days, hours, and attendance expectations.

If you run an office, that change is not just a people topic. It directly affects capacity, scheduling, and the daily experience on-site.

What changed

On January 30, 2026, Business Insider reported that Stellantis told U.S. employees to return to the office five days a week starting March 30, with directors and above coming back earlier on February 16. The policy applies broadly and is framed as an enterprise-wide push to bring teams together.

On January 28, 2026, Reuters reported that Home Depot is cutting 800 corporate jobs and calling on corporate employees to return to the office five days a week. The company said the change is meant to increase agility and keep teams closer to frontline operations.

On January 6, 2026, The Economic Times reported that Wipro tightened its hybrid policy by requiring employees to spend at least six hours in the office on in-office days, with a three-days-a-week requirement already in place. The shift adds a time-in-office rule, not just a day-count rule.

Why it matters for office leaders

The pattern across these updates is that attendance is becoming more specific. It is no longer "be in a few days a week." It is "be in five days" or "be in for at least six hours." That is a different operational problem.

Specificity changes demand curves. When a company announces five fixed days, you can expect higher and more consistent occupancy. When it adds minimum time-in-office rules, you can expect longer daily peaks and more pressure on amenities, collaboration space, and support services.

This also changes the tolerance for bad experiences. If employees are required to be on-site more often, friction stands out faster: not enough desks, confusing seat allocation, long wait times for meeting rooms, or poor visibility into who is in. In stricter policy phases, operational gaps show up as cultural issues.

Finally, compliance gets operationalized. Leadership teams will want proof that new attendance rules are working. That means office ops will be asked for data: who came in, when, for how long, and whether the office footprint can handle the new load. If you do not have clean utilization data, you will end up debating policy with anecdotes instead of evidence.

What to do next

• Update your capacity model. Use recent occupancy and desk usage data to estimate the new peak day and peak hour, then plan staffing and services around that high point.
• Tighten desk booking rules. If you allow bookings, add basic guardrails like check-in windows and no-show releases to keep availability real on busy days.
• Align team schedules early. Publish team anchor days and core hours now so employees can plan commutes and avoid crowded "surprise" days.
• Validate the space mix. If higher attendance is coming, make sure the ratio of focus seats to collaboration space matches real use, not last year's assumptions.
• Set up simple reporting. A weekly occupancy snapshot and no-show rate is enough to show whether the new policy is working and whether space changes are required.

The common thread here is clarity: when policy gets specific, the office must get specific too. If your day-to-day operations still run on best effort, now is the time to tighten the loop.

Deskify supports that shift with clear desk visibility, simple check-ins, and real utilization signals that help you plan with facts instead of guesses.

Sources

• Business Insider: Stellantis orders staff back to the office 5 days a week
• Reuters via Investing.com: Home Depot to cut 800 corporate jobs and return to office
• The Economic Times: Wipro mandates six hours WFO in hybrid work tweak