The shift to hybrid work, a hallmark of the post-COVID workplace, is evolving as companies and governments reassess office utilization and workplace policies. In Texas, a state known for its robust economic growth, Kastle Systems’ Back to Work Barometer provides critical insights into office occupancy trends across the major markets: Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Shifts in job postings for fully remote and hybrid positions highlight changing employer priorities compared to the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent mandates from the Texas government and major employers underscore a push toward in-person work, while outliers like Zillow and industries like call centers maintain remote-first models. This article explores future trends, office occupancy data, real estate challenges, industry-specific work arrangements, employer mandates, job market shifts, and the intentional management required to navigate a blended workforce, emphasizing that returning to the office is not a complete rewind to 2019. 

Looking Ahead 

Hybrid work is evolving into a more structured model in Texas, with strong peak day utilization in markets like Austin and Houston. However, return-to-office (RTO) is not a return to 2019, requiring intentional management to address collaboration, equity, and employee needs. Outliers like Zillow and remote-friendly call centers buck the RTO trend, leveraging flexibility to attract talent. Real estate and parking challenges, driven by peak day demands, limit cost savings, while government and employer mandates risk turnover. Job postings show a decline in fully remote roles and stabilized hybrid options, signaling a new workplace balance. Navigating these trends will be crucial for optimizing strategies and retaining talent. 

Analysis and Implications 

The decline in hybrid work’s prevalence shows Texas markets like Houston and Austin approaching 70–75% peak day occupancy, compared to a national weekly average of 54.2%. A 2024 New York Times report estimated that 80% of U.S. workers (115 million of 143 million) were fully in-person, with only 10% hybrid and 10% fully remote, reflecting a multi-year decline in remote and hybrid work. For white-collar workers, hybrid and remote shares are higher, but RTO mandates are reducing flexibility, particularly in industries like finance, law, and energy. This shift is not a return to 2019, it is a more sustained shift, requiring intentional strategies like collaboration days, equitable perks (e.g., food delivery gift cards for remote workers), and virtual meeting etiquette (e.g., showing hands or requiring cameras) to manage blended workforces. Zillow’s remote-first success, with employees in all 50 states and a surge in job applications, contrasts with RTO mandates from Texas employers like JPMorgan Chase and Dell, highlighting industry divergence. Call center operations remain a remote stronghold due to their digital nature. Real estate challenges persist, with smaller lease sizes and increased space per worker (almost 11 sq. ft. more per worker than 2014) reflecting a need for flexibility and comfort. Government mandates and employer RTO policies risk turnover, with 13% higher attrition at strict RTO firms. The stabilization of hybrid postings (12–22% in early 2025) suggests a new equilibrium balancing flexibility and in-person work. 

Declining Hybrid Work in Texas: Kastle Systems Data 

Kastle Systems, a leader in building security and access control, tracks office occupancy through its Back to Work Barometer, analyzing swipe card data from over 2,600 buildings across 47 states. In Texas, the data reveals a gradual return to in-person work, particularly on peak days, signaling a decline in flexible hybrid arrangements. 

  • Austin: In early 2025, Austin recorded a peak day office utilization of 68.3%, a significant increase of over 50 basis points week-over-week, indicating strong momentum toward in-office work. However, weekly averages remain below pre-pandemic levels, hovering around 54.2% in January 2025, suggesting hybrid schedules persist but are less prevalent than during peak COVID times. 
  • Houston: Houston led Texas markets with a peak day occupancy of 74.8% in late January 2025, up 70 basis points from the previous week. This surge points to a robust return to office spaces, particularly in industries like energy. The weekly average aligns with the national trend of 54.2%, indicating hybrid work is concentrated on peak days (Tuesday–Thursday). 
  • Dallas: Dallas has shown consistent recovery, with occupancy rates leading Western and Southwestern cities. By 2023, mid-week peaks reached 58% of pre-pandemic levels, but Fridays lagged at 43% below the Tuesday–Thursday average, underscoring a hybrid pattern with declining off-peak attendance. 
  • San Antonio: As a smaller metro, San Antonio follows similar trends, with hybrid work stabilizing at weekly averages of 50–54% but higher peak day attendance (60–65%). This suggests a shift toward structured in-office days. 

Kastle’s data highlights a broader trend: while hybrid work remains a mainstay for some employment sectors, its intensity is declining as companies prioritize in-person collaboration on peak days (Tuesday–Thursday), with Mondays and Fridays seeing significantly lower attendance (e.g., 21% and 43% below mid-week peaks, respectively). The Peak Day Hybrid Index shows peak day occupancy rising to 63.4% nationally by January 2025, compared to a weekly average of 54.2%, indicating hybrid work is consolidating around fewer, busier office days. 

Peak Days and Real Estate Challenges 

The concentration of office attendance on peak days poses significant challenges for companies aiming to reduce real estate footprints. While lower weekly averages suggest underutilized space, high peak day occupancy requires maintaining capacity for near-full attendance, undermining downsizing efforts. CoStar that office tenants now occupy about 183 sq. ft. per employee (down from 205 sq. ft. in 2019), reflecting more efficient space use, but peak day demands necessitate additional space for comfort and collaboration, with some occupiers scrambling to reclaim previously surrendered space. 

  • Real Estate Footprint: In Texas, peak day occupancy rates—68.3% in Austin, 74.8% in Houston, and 60–65% in Dallas and San Antonio—require office spaces sized for near-full capacity on mid-week days. For example, a Houston company with 1,000 employees must plan for 748 workers on a peak day, despite weekly averages of 542. A 2024 JLL report noted that 60% of companies face challenges reducing footprints due to peak day demands, particularly in Texas. The trend toward smaller lease sizes (15–20% smaller than pre-pandemic averages) reflects consolidation, but the need to accommodate all employees on busy days limits significant reductions. 
  • Parking and Ratios: Parking constraints are acute in car-dependent Texas cities. Typical office parking ratios (3–4 spaces per 1,000 square feet) are strained on peak days. In Austin, urban growth outpaces parking infrastructure, leading to shortages on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Houston and Dallas face similar issues, with a Dallas office of 500 employees (150 parking spaces at a 3:1,000 ratio) unable to accommodate 325 employees on a 65% peak day if most drive. San Antonio sees less pressure but still faces mid-week challenges. Solutions like shared parking or subsidized transit add costs, offsetting real estate savings. 

This paradox—lower overall utilization but high peak day demands—locks companies into larger footprints, particularly in Texas markets. Additionally, the need for more space per on-site worker (about 3 sq. ft. more than in 2014) to support videoconferencing and collaboration further complicates downsizing. 

Remote and Hybrid Work by White-Collar Industry 

The prevalence of remote and hybrid work varies across white-collar industries, shaped by job functions, client expectations, and cultural norms. While most industries are shifting toward in-office work, outliers like call centers and companies like Zillow remain remote-first. 

  • Technology Industry: The tech sector leads in flexible work, with 67.8% of workers in 2024 engaging in remote work at least part-time. Robert Half’s 2025 report notes 31% of senior-level tech roles and 24% of mid-level roles were hybrid in Q1 2025, with 15% and 13% fully remote. Zillow, a notable outlier, has embraced a “CloudHQ” remote-first model, enabling employees to work from all 50 states and increasing job applications fourfold. This approach, supported by in-person retreats and town halls, contrasts with tech giants like Amazon, which mandated a five-day RTO in 2025. Call center operations, often tech-adjacent, are predominantly remote due to digital tools and minimal need for in-person collaboration, with companies like Zillow leveraging virtual platforms for customer service roles. 
  • Law Firms: Law firms are among the least flexible, with 83% of large firms and 73% of smaller firms preferring in-office work in 2024. Only 8% of legal roles were fully remote in Q1 2025. Texas firms like Vinson & Elkins and Baker Botts have largely returned to full-time in-office work, with hybrid limited to 1–2 days for administrative staff or junior associates, driven by client interactions and mentorship needs. 
  • Finance and Banking: Finance has moderate hybrid adoption (52% in 2024), but top employers like JPMorgan Chase have mandated full RTO, citing productivity. Call center roles in finance, however, often remain remote due to their operational nature. 
  • Healthcare Administration: White-collar healthcare roles (e.g., hospital administration) have 45% hybrid and 10% fully remote adoption. Texas employers like Baylor Scott & White Health limit hybrid schedules to 1–2 days remote to coordinate with clinical staff. 
  • Energy: The energy sector, prominent in Houston, has low flexibility, with 25% of roles hybrid and 5% fully remote in 2024. Companies like ExxonMobil require 4–5 in-office days for collaboration. 

Texas Government and Major Employer RTO Mandates 

Texas government and major employers are pushing for in-person work, aligning with national trends but creating unique challenges. 

  • Texas Government Mandates: In March 2025, Governor Greg Abbott mandated a full RTO for all state employees by March 31, 2025, impacting 141,000 workers across 114 agencies. Exceptions are limited to fieldwork or offices under renovation. Agencies like the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) face space shortages after downsizing leases, with TWC saving $929,754 annually and the Health and Human Services Commission saving $7.6 million. A 2024 Legislative Budget Board survey found 80 of 96 agencies reported benefits from remote work, but the mandate persists, raising concerns about turnover (66% of 6,500 surveyed employees may quit) and parking shortages. 
  • Major Texas Employer Mandates: 
  • JPMorgan Chase (Dallas): Mandated five-day RTO in 2025, tracking attendance for compliance. 
  • Dell Technologies (Austin): Eliminated fully remote work in 2024, mandating five-day RTO for most roles by Q1 2025. 
  • Toyota (Plano): Implemented full RTO in 2025, with exceptions for field-based roles. 
  • AT&T (Dallas): Mandated five-day RTO in 2025, facing employee pushback over commuting costs. 

These mandates reflect a belief in enhanced productivity and collaboration, though a 2024 Pew Research Center poll notes 46% of workers may quit if forced to return full-time. 

The table above compares the percentage of U.S. job postings for remote, hybrid, and in-person work on LinkedIn and Indeed during the COVID-19 peak (March 2022) and the latest available data in Q1 2025. The data highlights the significant decline in remote and hybrid job postings, reflecting a shift toward in-person work arrangements. Sources include LinkedIn’s State of the Labor Market reports and Indeed’s Hybrid/Remote Tracker. 

Job Postings: Fully Remote and Hybrid Positions 

The U.S. job market reflects a significant shift away from fully remote and hybrid work, with higher-paying and senior-level roles showing notably less flexibility compared to entry-level or lower-paying positions. During the COVID-19 peak (2020–2022), remote job postings surged, reaching 20.6% of total postings on LinkedIn in March 2022, according to LinkedIn’s State of the Labor Market report. Hybrid postings were also significant, with Indeed reporting 31.4% of remote-capable postings mentioning hybrid work in February 2022. By May 2024, remote job postings had plummeted by 47% from their peak, and hybrid postings saw a 94% drop from May 2023 to May 2024, signaling a broader return to in-person work. In Q1 2025, Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report indicates that only 15% of senior-level roles, 13% of mid-level roles, and 10% of entry-level roles were fully remote, while hybrid postings stabilized at 31% for senior-level, 24% for mid-level, and 18% for entry-level roles.  

This disparity underscores that senior-level and higher-paying roles, often tied to leadership, client-facing duties, or strategic decision-making, face stricter return-to-office (RTO) mandates, as companies prioritize in-person collaboration for these positions. For example, industries like finance (e.g., JPMorgan Chase) and law (e.g., Vinson & Elkins) require senior professionals to be in-office full-time, citing needs for mentorship and high-stakes interactions. In contrast, entry-level and lower-paying roles, such as administrative or customer service positions, retain more flexibility, with 10–18% remaining fully remote or hybrid in Q1 2025, per Robert Half. Call center roles, in particular, stand out as predominantly remote, leveraging digital tools to maintain operational efficiency without physical office requirements, as seen in companies like Zillow.  

A 2024 LinkedIn analysis further supports this trend, noting that higher-paying roles (e.g., those above $100,000 annually) have seen a 60% decline in remote postings since 2022, compared to a 30% decline for roles below $50,000. Similarly, Indeed’s 2025 data shows that lower-paying sectors like customer service and retail, which often include entry-level positions, maintain higher shares of remote (8%) and hybrid (25%) postings compared to senior management roles (4% remote, 15% hybrid). This reflects a broader pattern where employers grant more flexibility to roles with less strategic impact or those that can be performed effectively via digital platforms, while senior roles face pressure to return to the office to align with corporate culture and oversight demands. 

Sources 

Kastle Systems Back to Work Barometer, Robert Half Demand for Skilled Talent Report, Q1 2025, Indeed Job Postings Data, LinkedIn Job Postings Data, Gallup Remote Work Data, Statista Remote Work Statistics, Thomson Reuters Institute, Law Firm Trends, 2024, The Texas Tribune, Texas Government RTO Mandate, March 2025, The Kerr County Lead, Texas State Employee RTO Policy, March 2025, Business Insider, Major Companies RTO Mandates, June 2025, Pew Research Center, Remote Work Preferences, ZipRecruiter, RTO Impact on Turnover, Fortune, Zillow Remote-First Model, CoStar Analytics, Office Market Trends, July 2025, New York Times articles.  

Steve Triolet
Senior Vice President of Research and Market Forecasting
[email protected]
tel 214 223 4008