Corporate profits, for instance, steadily rose from the second quarter of 2020 through the end of 2021, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The BEA metric takes into account both revenue growth, reflecting productivity, and cost management, reflecting worker efficiency, Wigert noted.

What's more, when managers were surveyed during the pandemic, "on average, [they] gave a higher performance review score to their remote employees compared to their in-office employees," said Brian Kropp, chief of research in consulting firm Gartner's Human Resources Practice.

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Still, many employers now want workers to return to the office for at least three days a week. Their rationale? The need to strengthen workplace culture, and foster greater collaboration and innovation.

While those goals are critical, issuing a mandate that employees work more days in the office than they would like doesn't ensure success in either arena and could cause some workers to leave, according to workplace experts.