Some firms are imposing stricter office mandates partly to prompt voluntary exits instead of announcing layoffs. The Federal Reserve reported districts reducing headcounts via attrition encouraged by RTO and aided by automation/AI, while big brands (Paramount, NBCUniversal) set stricter in‑office rules and offer severance to non‑compliers.
— This reframes the RTO debate from culture and collaboration to a quiet workforce‑reduction lever intertwined with automation adoption and labor‑market slack.
Federal Reserve Bank August report: 'reducing headcounts through attrition — encouraged, at times, by return‑to‑office policies and facilitated, at times, by greater automation, including new AI tools.'