Remote work rollback: How it impacts expats

The reverse trend

Two Canadian provincial governments kicked off 2026 by scaling back remote work. In Ontario, provincial government staff were required to return to the office full-time from early January, following a phased increase in in-office attendance introduced the previous year. At the start of February, Alberta ended its hybrid work plan, and thousands of government employees returned to the office five days a week. At the time of writing this article, other provinces are reviewing remote work policies and increasing minimum in-office requirements.

But Canada is not alone in this policy shift, as employers and public sector organizations in several other countries are quietly reversing course or abruptly ending the remote work policies introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote work accelerated dramatically during the global health crisis. Almost overnight, it went from a perk to a policy as employers ordered their employees to work from home. In the years that followed, even as the pandemic eased, the trend continued, with large numbers of workers embracing hybrid and remote arrangements.

The advantages were clear. Employees enjoyed greater flexibility and improved work-life balance, while organizations benefited from lower overheads, reduced absenteeism, and access to a global talent pool. So why are companies now pulling back?

A global shift

For many employers, the shift back to the office reflects their concerns about productivity and the difficulty of evaluating it based solely on results. They argue it is far easier to monitor people when they are also under the same roof. Managers also say that training new staff, supporting teamwork and maintaining company culture are difficult in a fully remote setup. Then there are those organizations with long-term leases or expensive real estate that need in-office attendance to deliver a maximum return on investment.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the move away from fully remote work has been gradual. Some large employers, including Amazon, JP Morgan and Santander, have tightened hybrid policies, increased required days in the office, and scaled back work-from-anywhere arrangements. In many cases, companies have framed these changes around increased in-house collaboration, improved training opportunities, and the maintenance of company culture.

United States

Several high-profile employers in the US across tech, media, finance and retail have tightened return-to-office mandates. Companies such as Dell and Amazon have introduced policies requiring many employees to spend significantly more time in the office. Some federal agencies have also reduced telework or increased in-office expectations following a raft of government directives. Meanwhile, last year, the governor of California signed an executive order requiring state workers to return to the office four days a week.

Australia

The picture in Australia is a mixed one. Hybrid work is still common, but some employers have tightened their remote work policies and increased in-office expectations. Companies such as Woolworths and major banks, including ANZ, have required staff to spend more time in the office or strengthened the enforcement of hybrid rules. Full five-day return-to-office mandates remain relatively uncommon.

Europe

The situation across Europe is a little more uneven, partly due to stronger worker protections and collective bargaining. Even so, a number of large employers are reducing remote options, including banks such as Société Générale and telecoms group Iliad in France. In Germany, some companies, including SAP and Deutsche Bank, are encouraging greater office attendance but have to date stopped short of full return-to-office mandates.

Multinationals

Elsewhere, some multinationals that operate across borders have tightened location rules and now require some employees to work in the same country as their main offices or core operations. These include Starbucks, which updated its rules so that some corporate leaders have to relocate to either Seattle or Toronto. Google has also changed its remote work rules. While it still allows limited flexible working, the company has restricted long-term work from countries where it does not have an established employment structure.

What the remote work rollback means for expats

For expats and internationally mobile workers, these policy shifts carry real, practical consequences. Many who relocated abroad during the remote work boom did so on the assumption that the flexibility was here to stay. They signed leases, enrolled children in local schools, built social networks, and in some cases applied for residency. Now, with employers tightening the rules, some may face an uncomfortable choice: return to their employer's home country, renegotiate their contract, or start looking for a new job altogether.

The impact goes beyond those already settled abroad. New hires are increasingly expected to live within commuting distance of an office, which narrows opportunities for candidates based overseas. And for expats whose right to live in a country is tied to a specific employer or work arrangement, a policy change back at headquarters could have direct consequences on their immigration status.

That said, this is not a complete reversal. Fully remote positions still exist, particularly in tech, and many companies are landing on hybrid models rather than full return-to-office mandates. But the direction of travel is clear: flexibility is no longer a given. It is increasingly treated as a negotiated benefit, one that varies by employer, by role and by country.

For expats, the takeaway is straightforward: stay informed, read the fine print, and don't assume that today's arrangement will still be in place tomorrow. Those considering a move abroad on the strength of a remote work agreement should ensure that flexibility is contractually guaranteed, not just informally tolerated.