NYC Business Leaders on RTO: Survey Reveals Hybrid Still Dominates, Office Attendance Set to Rise

Office attendance has improved in recent years, mainly due to return-to-office mandates from tech and financial companies, as well as government institutions. However, it has yet to return to pre-pandemic norms, standing around 50-50% of the pre-2020 benchmark.

Hubble, a flexible office space platform that recently launched in the U.S., conducted a survey on 126 founders, CEOs and other decision-makers in New York City’s startup ecosystem. The results revealed how local business leaders are approaching workplace strategy in 2026 and beyond.

Specifically, the Hubble return-to-office survey focused on current work models, satisfaction levels around those models, office attendance expectations and whether leaders expect policies to change over the next year.

Key Takeaways:

• NYC office use still appears to be moving gradually upward: While half of surveyed leaders expect no change to their current setup, 28% say they plan to shift toward more office-based work, compared with just 3% planning to become more remote.

• Hybrid remains the most common operating model among surveyed companies, reflecting its role as a middle ground between flexibility and in-person collaboration.

• A full five-day office schedule is not the preferred end point for most companies, even among leaders who want more in-person time.

• Office attendance is more often encouraged than strictly policed: 48% of leaders say attendance is moderately enforced without disciplinary action, 31% say attendance is encouraged rather than required and 18% leave it up to employees.

2026 State of Work

Hybrid Leads in 2026 as Default Compromise for NYC Companies

Among the 126 NYC business leaders Hubble surveyed, hybrid was the most common workplace model, chosen by nearly half of respondents. Fully remote companies accounted for 43% of responses, while only 9% said their firms operated fully in-office.

Leaders of hybrid companies most often described the model as a practical balance between two competing priorities: The value of face-to-face interaction and the flexibility employees now expect for a better work-life balance. In other words, the hybrid model appears to remain the preferred compromise for firms that want office time without fully giving up remote work.

Among hybrid companies, policies varied widely. The most common hybrid setup, used by 38% of companies, allowed employees to come in at their discretion. Another 34% relied on designated office days, such as anchor days when everyone is expected to be present, while 25% required a set number of office days per week.

Enforcement also differed from firm to firm. Nearly half of hybrid leaders said office attendance was moderately enforced but not tied to disciplinary action, while 31% said attendance was simply encouraged. That suggests many NYC firms are still relying more on guidance and culture than on strict mandates.

Remote: Still Common, but Rarely Fully Detached From In-Person Interaction 

Fully remote companies made up 43% of the respondent pool. Leaders in that group most often pointed to two benefits: Broader access to talent regardless of location and lower operating costs.

Even so, fully remote did not necessarily mean fully virtual. Over two-thirds of remote-only companies said they still created opportunities for in-person interaction, whether through team gatherings, company-wide social events, in-person development meetings or access to coworking space.

In-Office: Favored for Collaboration, Culture and Onboarding 

Only 9% of surveyed firms said they operated fully in-office. They most often cited collaboration, knowledge sharing, onboarding and cultural alignment as the main advantages of office-based work. Some also said that a separate workplace improves productivity and supports employee well-being by drawing a clearer line between home and work.

Office-based companies were also the most likely to view their model as strongly positive for company culture. Still, leaders at hybrid firms also reported cultural benefits and even remote firms generally described the impact on culture as neutral to positive rather than negative.

Leadership perspectives on work models are exemplified in the table below:

Category	Fully remote	Hybrid	Fully office-based
Share	43%	48%	9%
Satisfaction (1-10)	7.0 / 10	7.2 / 10	8.4 / 10
Pros according to leaders	Accommodating for employees Budget-friendly	Best of both worlds Productivity booster	Collaboration & mentorship Relationship & culture building
Cons according to leaders	Lower engagement Requires more tools & oversight	High costs relative to utilization Difficult to implement & maintain attendance	Location & amenity-reliant Employee retention
What leaders say	“We have access to talent that we wouldn’t be able to enjoy otherwise.” CEO, 50-249 employee company	“Occasional time in the office gives people opportunities for connection and excitement, while working from home lets you get stuff done in your pajamas while the laundry is on. Both are great.” Executive, 250+ employee company	“By default, it’s important to be together in one room in the early stages of a startup — context gets lost otherwise.” Co-Founder & CEO, sub-10 employee company

How NYC Leaders Work

Executives Skew More Office-Oriented Than Their Companies

The survey highlighted a gap between company policy and leader behavior. Executives and founders were more likely than their organizations as a whole to spend time in the office, which aligns with the finding that leaders in more office-based setups tended to report higher satisfaction overall.  

Specifically, 12% of respondents said they personally work from the office full-time, compared with only 9% of the companies they lead. Hybrid was also more common at the individual leadership level than at the company level: Nearly two-thirds of leaders said they personally split time between home and office, versus roughly half of firms using hybrid as their formal model.  

Moreover, 83% of hybrid company leaders said they personally also worked in a hybrid arrangement. Within that group, about two-thirds said they worked from home more than they do from the office and another third favored office work more. 

Leaders of remote-only firms also showed a meaningful office presence. Only 56% of those respondents said they work fully remotely themselves, meaning the remainder still spend at least some time in an office or shared workspace.  

Office Attendance in NYC

Most Hybrid Leaders Satisfied with Current Levels, Stricter Rules Raise Retention Concerns

The survey also asked leaders of hybrid firms whether they wanted employees to spend more or less time in the office. A little over 50% said they were satisfied with current attendance. Another 16% said they did not mind one way or the other. Together, these responses suggest that many NYC firms believe they have already reached a workable hybrid balance.  

Still, the push toward more office time has not disappeared. Almost a quarter of leaders said they wanted employees in the office more often, and another 2% said they wanted a much greater office presence. That leaves room for a continued, if gradual, rise in attendance across New York City’s office spaces.  

Retention remains the main constraint. A total of 40% of respondents said employees would likely quit if office attendance rules were more heavily enforced. Just over one-third were neutral on that question, while 23% said they did not believe stricter office requirements would lead to employee turnover. Leaders who were already satisfied with current attendance were more likely to say tougher policies would not trigger attrition; those seeking more attendance were more likely to worry about churn.  

Looking Forward

NYC Leaders See More Office Time, but Not a Broad Return to Five Days

When asked about the next 12 months, more than half of surveyed leaders said they expected no change in their current workplace strategy while another 14% said they were unsure. Even so, the direction of change was tilted toward the office: 28% said they plan to move toward more office-based work, while only 3% said they expect to become more remote.

Among leaders planning to require more in-office time, 45% said they expect some employees to leave as a result. Even so, those respondents indicated they believe the benefits of more face time would outweigh the short-term retention cost.

At the same time, a full five-day return does not appear to be where most firms are headed, as only 4% of leaders at remote or hybrid companies said they plan to enforce a complete return-to-office model. The survey results point to a more incremental path in which firms gradually add office time while still preserving some flexibility.

Companies already operating on a hybrid model were more inclined than fully remote firms to anticipate tougher office attendance rules. Remote-only employers appeared less certain about their next step, with 22% of leaders saying they still did not know how their workplace policy might change over the coming year. Meanwhile, fully in-office companies showed the greatest consistency: 90% expected to keep their current setup in place, while the remaining 10% said they had not ruled out a shift. 

Methodology

This article is based on Hubble’s published in-house survey of 126 respondents in New York City’s startup ecosystem. According to Hubble, responses were collected between November 29, 2025 and January 10, 2026, and respondents were asked about company role, team size, workplace model, office attendance and expected policy changes.

Fair Use & Redistribution 

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About Hubble

Hubble is the largest flex office space platform in the United Kingdom that recently launched in the U.S. Hubble has been part of the Yardi family of brands since 2025.