Cutting through the hype on AI, RTO, and DEI

FROM A QUICK glance at 2024's top business headlines, you'd think all companies were pushing return-to-office (RTO) policies, embracing artificial intelligence (AI), and banishing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

- SARAH G CARMICHAEL Bloomberg

But as we head into 2025, let's remember that headlines don't always reflect reality.

Start with RTO mandates. The media loves a scary back-to-the-office headline. From the point of view of clicks, a strict five-day-a-week policy is gold. Even better? If that policy applies to liberal tech dweebs. Full points if it's a company that once promised to work remotely forever, like X when it was still Twitter.

These headlines gain attention because they play to some readers' anxieties and others' schadenfreude. But the reality is that most companies have accepted hybrid work. Even Elon Musk had to back off his declarations of full RTO at X; shortly after his initial, well-publicised demands, he conceded there'd be exceptions. He also shuttered some of the company's offices, meaning that all staff in those locations had to go fully remote.

I expect this duality to ramp up in 2025, with more companies loudly announcing returns to the office even as the majority quietly shrink their office footprints or continue to embrace hybrid arrangements.