The world edged closer to learning to live with COVID-19 in 2022, and as it did, an increasing number of pandemic restrictions were lifted. In many co

CEOs from Elon Musk to Jamie Dimon fought to bring workers back to the office in 2022. Here’s who won—and who lost—the great return-to-office war

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2023-01-25 02:30:04

The world edged closer to learning to live with COVID-19 in 2022, and as it did, an increasing number of pandemic restrictions were lifted. In many countries, that meant returning to the office for the first time in two years.

The shift away from government stay-at-home mandates led companies to question whether office workers could viably do their jobs from home on a permanent basis. And for many bosses, the answer was blindingly clear: No, they cannot.

With almost half of American CEOs wanting to order their staff back to the office, a battle soon erupted at many companies between bosses and workers who either ignored return-to-work policies or actively rebelled against them.

Here, Fortune takes a look back at how major companies tried—and in some cases, failed—to reinstate some form of in-person working this year.

Musk caused a stir in June when his weighed in—heavily—on whether remote working should continue as economies moved away from draconian COVID restrictions.