That has been the defining workplace question in the years since the pandemic sent workers home. And while full five-day in-office mandates are rare—most Fortune 500 companies require workers to be on-site for three days a week, according to Flex Index’s latest report—employers are still asking for more in-person attendance. 

The latest is Starbucks, which is now asking its corporate employees to return to the office four days a week and relocate to Seattle or Toronto within the next 12 months, while offering voluntary buyouts to those who “decide to ‘opt-out’” of the company’s RTO policy, according to a memo announcing the new policy. 

Meanwhile, non-production employees at industrial giant 3M will also have to start going into the office four days a week as of September 1, according to NBC affiliate KARE in Minnesota, where the company is based. 

Four-day mandates have been on the rise this year, according to Flex Index, which tracks corporate return-to-office policies. About 12% of Fortune 500 hybrid firms now require workers to come into the office four days a week, up from 8% at the end of 2024. 

While Starbucks and 3M differ on their start date for their new mandates, September 1 (or after Labor Day) has been a popular start date for new in-office policies. The start of a new school year allows working parents to plan ahead for their time away from home. As we get nearer to the end of summer, what other companies will update their RTO policies?

Happy reading, and hope you have a lovely week!

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The Supreme Court approved President Donald Trump’s gutting of the Department of Education, as it approved the layoffs of nearly 1,400 employees. It’s the latest greenlight of the administration’s cut to the federal workforce, in addition to the 1,300 employees laid off at the State Department on Friday. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi fired an additional nine DOJ staffers who worked on criminal cases against President Trump last week. The firings come as Bondi and the agency have come under fire for not releasing any further information on the department’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. 

Glassdoor and Indeed’s parent company Recruit Holdings laid off 1,300 employees last week as part of its efforts to adapt to AI’s effect on the business, according to Reuters. The company will also integrate Glassdoor into Indeed as Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong will step down on October 1. 

A barely-used child care tax break for employers was one of the beneficiaries of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, reports Forbes’ Danielle Chemtob. The provision, which allows businesses to claim tax credits to offset the cost of building or partnering with on-site child care services, expanded how much employers can claim to as much as $600,000. Will more employers take advantage?

Fighting unpaid leave and “inconvenient” postpartum bodies, professional ballerinas are increasingly advocating for parental leave policies, according to Elle. Like other artists and workers who depend on their physical ability to work, ballerinas are making pregnancy and parenting support a key part of union contract negotiations.  

A new study found that using AI tools made open-source developers 19% slower at their jobs. Time saved in the actual coding/debugging process or looking for information was then eaten up by the time coders spent waiting for the AI’s final product and reviewing AI-produced code.