In January 2026, Instagram, JPMorgan Chase, and Paramount Pictures joined Amazon in mandating five-day return-to-office policies. The executive logic was simple: more time in the office equals better collaboration. The reality has been anything but.
According to a survey of 750 HR leaders, 75% reported that return-to-office mandates created significant tension. MIT Sloan Management Review published their blunt assessment: 'How to Lose Your Best Performers.'
The Proximity Fallacy
The fundamental error in most RTO mandates is conflating physical proximity with meaningful connection. A Stanford study tracking productivity before, during, and after RTO mandates found no improvement in collaboration quality.
The office should be a destination, not a default. When you mandate attendance, you signal that you don't trust your people. -- Nicholas Bloom, Stanford Economics Professor
What Actually Builds Connection
Real connection comes from structured opportunities to learn together, solve problems collectively, and grow alongside peers. Peer forums create 'purposeful proximity' whether participants are in the same building or across continents:
- Shared vulnerability: Forum members discuss real challenges, not curated updates
- Mutual accountability: Groups commit to actions and report back
- Collective intelligence: Diverse perspectives solve problems no individual could
- Sustained engagement: Ongoing relationships, not one-off interactions
The Forum@Work Approach
Companies using Forum@Work report 87% voluntary participation rates and 4.2/5 satisfaction scores. Employees describe forums as 'the most valuable hour of their week.'
The lesson of the 2026 RTO backlash is clear: you can't force connection. But you can create the conditions where it naturally emerges. Peer forums are those conditions, and they work regardless of where people sit.
