Every six months, Paul McArdle and his colleagues at The Panel send out a survey to thousands of professionals the recruitment firm has partnered with over the years.

Their goal is simple: to gain fresh insights into how workers and job seekers view the evolving world of work—from the rise of AI to shifting power dynamics between employers and employees.

The survey reaches professionals at every level, from junior managers to C-suite executives, across sectors including IT, finance, accounting, legal, HR, banking, and ESG.

The engagement rate is surprisingly high. The most recent survey, published in association with The Currency in July, was completed by 1,796. That compares well with most political opinion polls that you read in the newspapers. 

The trends have varied over the years. The early fear and anxiety over artificial intelligence have transitioned to excitement about the potential of eliminating drudge process work. Likewise, there have been subtle shifts in where employees view the balance of power between the employee and the employer. 

One thing has remained constant, however. In fact, it has become more entrenched. Employees do not want to work full-time in the office. Some 57 per cent of those surveyed earlier this year only want to work on a hybrid basis, while only three per cent want to work in the office full time. 

The survey revealed flexibility from employers, also, with 53 per cent of those surveyed saying their employer lets them choose when they turn up to the office. Some eight per cent are mandated to come to the office full-time, while 36 per cent have to come to the office on set days during the week – most commonly three days. 

The rise of working from home and hybrid working arrangements has been something of a workplace revolution, and this revolution has happened in a short space of time, having been accelerated during the pandemic. 

But there is a looming hitch: Angsty employers are now seeking to quell this workplace revolution.

The tech giants, enthused and emboldened by the new Trumpian order, were the first to start demanding workers return to the office. Others are following, and it threatens to create friction between staff and their employers.

Take AIB. Last month, the lender informed workers that from January, they would be assigned three days each week to work on site. It represented a shift from the fully hybrid model it had adopted since the pandemic, and was heavily criticised by staff and the unions that represent them. 

“When it comes to their job, every worker wants to have a good work-life balance and trust with their employer. AIB’s move undermines both,” according to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. 

Meanwhile, over at Bank of Ireland, the Financial Services Union earlier this month instructed its members to ignore any instruction from bank bosses to increase office attendance until agreement was reached with the union.

The changes require employees who qualify for hybrid working to be on-site at least eight times a month, and are due to come into effect at the start of September. 

The Irish Times reported last week that big-four accountancy group PwC is monitoring staff attendance at its Irish offices. This follows reports that the firm’s UK office has introduced a traffic-light system to track staff compliance with its requirement to work from the office or client sites at least three days a week.

Employers are pitching it as a question of productivity and collegiality. Employees, meanwhile, talk about work-life balance and about the fact that most can do their work from home quite easily.

In a nutshell, 20-30 per cent of jobs clearly can’t be done from home, while 20-30 per cent clearly can. The battleground is everything else. It depends almost entirely on the line manager rather than the employee. Most managers can only manage people one way. 

Organisations have a habit of underinvesting in managers. The result? Most lead the way they’ve seen it done before: measure presence, not performance. “When did you turn up? Can I see you at your desk? If you’re working on the wrong thing, how would I even know?”

The problem is, that mindset falls apart in a remote world. Remote working is relatively easy. Remote management is the real challenge — and many bosses simply haven’t been taught how to do it.

It is also important to look at the debate in a more nuanced, holistic way.

The rise of AI weakens employee power and increases CEO power (and pay). This rise is all based on cheap credit. You need low interest rates to invest in technology and make this all go. It weakens the hand of employees in this debate because companies can automate process work. Plus, to add to my earlier point, there is also a temptation among employers to assume that staff are using AI if they can’t see them physically doing the work. 

“We’re seeing a situation where more of our clients are pushing for a return to the office (RTO), while many of our candidates are resisting this,” Paul McArdle told me when I reached out to him this week. 

The way he sees it, the market is now more client-driven, and candidates will likely see an increase in the push for return to the office. “Salary package and working arrangements are the two most significant issues we have to navigate,” he said.

But this tug-of-war extends far beyond office politics. The outcome of the battle between labour, management, and machines will ripple into broader markets.

Depending on which side of the ledger comes out on top, we could be staring at either a commercial property boom — fuelled by renewed demand for office presence — or a bust, as employers decide they simply don’t need all that space anymore.

The question, then, isn’t just about how we work. It’s about who holds the power, who gets paid, and which parts of the economy rise or fall in the process.

Elsewhere last week…

Ireland is not a ‘truly rich’ country, according to a new survey by The Economist, which argued that the economic indicators in Ireland are skewed by foreign multinational activity. Is the magazine right? On Friday, Dan O’Brien crunched the data to see how Ireland actually ranks.

Origin Enterprises is on course to diversify a third of profits outside its 200-year-old agribusiness, says Sean Coyle, but not necessarily as a listed company. CEO Coyle sat down with Thomas for an in-depth interview.

Keychain, the manufacturing tech platform led by Oisin Hanrahan, has raised $30 million (€25.7 million) in funding, bringing its total funding to nearly $70 million less than two years after launching. Hanrahan sat down with Jonathan. 

With little evidence of distillers passing on price hikes to American consumers yet, whiskey makers are starting to weigh up new markets as tariffs wreak havoc on an already embattled industry. Michael did a deep dive into the sector.

The Government is introducing a Renewable Heat Obligation next year. The motor fuels experience gives some clues as to how it might affect domestic biofuel production – and what pitfalls industry is warning about. Alice had the details.