To be, or not to be, in the office. Has returning to work stalled?

Kettle Readers have been up in arms this week about a study by Stanford boffins suggesting that the return to the office trend is stalling, as workers rebel against demands that they take up the commute again.

The analysis covers a topic that many in the tech industry (those of us blessed with jobs that can be done remotely at least) have been debating. After years of sales pitches about the benefits of working from home, COVID-19 forced the issue and many of us spent over two years working from home, or living at work - depending on how that's handled, as we discuss below.

The shift to hybrid working is going to have massive repercussions, not only on the lives of laborers but on interpersonal relationships, city structures, commercial real estate and the pension funds that depend on it, and the lives of billions. Many employees - particularly new ones - have sometimes never met their coworkers and so lack the crucial knowledge that only comes from personal contact.

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There are also security concerns about more staff being remote, although earlier predictions of a criminals' field day appear not to have borne fruit. These and other issues on this shift to a fully hybrid model are chewed over by four Register vultures. Full disclosure: We're all working from home today.

Joining us from the UK in his man shed at the bottom of the garden is Richard Speed, security editor Jessica Lyons Hardcastle shares her experiences, and remote devotee Brandon Vigliarolo.

Moderation is provided by Iain Thomson and our expert producer is The Next Platform veteran Nicole Hemsoth Prickett. You can get the audio-only podcast on your usual channels. If you want to catch up on earlier editions there's an archive here. ®