More Lawyers Return to Their Offices as Mandatory and Suggested Guidelines Gain Momentum
Three days a week seems to be the magic number to be back in the office.
Time to bring forth the button-down shirts and slacks and nice dresses and skirts again as law firms, like other businesses nationwide, tell staff to return to their offices, at least some of the time. And rather than one hard-and-fast schedule emerging, firms are putting into practice a variety of in-office attendance policies.
Flexibility seems to be the key. Some firms require attorneys to show up at least three days a week while others suggest that timetable, according to a recent survey of 70 firms from Savills.
On average, about 55% of attorneys are working from their office at least three days a week. And the most popular days to do so are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays—giving attorneys long weekends to work remotely at either end of the work week. The vast majority or 63% of firms don’t suggest which day their attorneys must come in, which has become known as an “anchor” or mandated day. But if a firm has such a requirement, it’s more likely to be a larger firm with more than 250 attorneys who do so, and that segment equaled 43%. Very few firms suggest or mandate a four- or five-day-a-week in-office schedule.
More flexibility relates to where the attorneys work once in the office. A majority or 60% have adopted or are considering flexible/office/hoteling with an even greater number or 70% doing so, including for partners.
The number of lawyers in a firm revealed some interesting trends. Larger firms—those with more than 250 attorneys—were more likely at 92% to recommend or mandate a certain number of days to come to the office. About a quarter of the smaller firms do not have any return-to-office policy versus the larger firms all having some type of guideline.
How many lawyers actually show up is another interesting trend. The report found that smaller firms have seen a higher percentage of attorneys or 60% in the office three or more days, compared to the larger firms where the percentage drops a bit lower to 50%.
When it comes to flexible offices or hoteling, the concept is roughly the same or 59% and 61% respectively whether it’s a large or small firm. And who gets a flexible office depends most on attendance, followed by individual preference and then firm assignment or position level coming in last.