Data-Driven Workplace Insights: Flex Index Joins Work Forward

What 8,500+ US companies reveal about the actual state of workplace flexibility

🎉 Some exciting news from Work Forward HQ that I've been itching to share: Flex Index is now officially part of Work Forward!

Not only that: we’ve got a brand-new Flex Report for Q2 2025 that looks at workplace policy trends — and the growing gap between policy and compliance.

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What's a "Flex Index" anyway?

For those familiar with my work, you likely know Flex Index as the definitive source for workplace flexibility policies. (If so, feel free to skip ahead to the juicy stats...)

For everyone else: Every company has a stance on workplace flexibility, but most don't make their office requirements public, and those that do describe their policies in wildly different ways. This creates a black box that frustrates job seekers, HR leaders, workplace strategists, researchers, and journalists alike.

Flex Index cuts through this confusion by providing a single source of truth on workplace flexibility for over 13,000 companies worldwide (8,500+ in the US alone). Think of it as the "Consumer Reports" of workplace policies: objective, comprehensive, and continuously updated.

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Getting Past the Breathless Headlines

You've seen the pattern: Business publications trumpet every company that marches employees back to headquarters five days a week, while ignoring the thousands quietly maintaining flexible arrangements. It's like covering every plane crash while never mentioning the millions of safe landings.

Flex Index tracks changes in policies over time, as well allowing people to navigate its database to look up the policies for specific companies and, if they’re an employee of the company, provide Flex Index with edits and additional detail. The changes over time bring reality back into view: the vast majority of firms – 67% as of Q2 2025 – have retained some flavor of workplace flexibility. It's a massive shift from 2019.

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What the Data Actually Shows: 4 Key Findings

Here's what the latest Flex Report reveals about where workplace flexibility truly stands in 2025:

1. Flexibility remains the norm
Despite the "everyone's going back" narrative, 67% of US firms still offer location flexibility. Structured hybrid dominates at 43% of companies, while only 33% require full-time office attendance. The pendulum hasn't swung nearly as far as headlines suggest.

2. Size matters (for office policies)
Fortune 500 companies are leading the return shift, with full-time office policies jumping from 13% to 24% since Q4. Meanwhile, 70% of companies with fewer than 500 employees remain fully flexible. The bigger the company, the more likely they're requiring more office time—perhaps because they're the ones with expensive real estate on their balance sheets?

3. In-office expectations are creeping up
The average number of required in-office days increased 13% over the past year, from 2.49 in Q2 2024 (the overall low point) to 2.82 this quarter. The three-day office week is becoming the new normal at many structured hybrid companies

4. The compliance gap is widening
Here's the fascinating part: Companies are demanding more office time (up 10% since Q1 2024), but actual attendance has barely budged (up less than 2%). This growing gap between policy and reality suggests leaders may be pushing policies that employees aren't buying into—a recipe for friction rather than engagement.

Read on for (much) more!

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Why This Matters for Work Forward

Work Forward's mission has always been to create a better world of work for both people and organizations. We do that through data and dialogue—and Flex Index fits squarely into the "essential data" category.

This acquisition is a natural evolution of a long-standing relationship. I was an advisor during Flex Index's early days, working closely with Rob Sadow and team. Now we've swapped hats: I'm taking on the leadership role, while Rob serves as an advisor.

Over the past few months, I've worked with co-founders Rob and Jon Sadow along with Ash Calisti, Michael Samuels, Adam Schuld, and Kate Walsh and to not only transition Flex Index to Work Forward, but to prepare for our first report under the new structure.

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State of Flex Webinar

📺 Join us June 4th for the Q2 2025 State of Flex webinar, where we'll share the latest insights!

I’ll be joined by three of the most respected thought leaders on the future of work — Nick Bloom (Stanford), Debbie Lovich (Boston Consulting Group) and Rob Sadow (Headway) — to delve into the latest data, insights, and trends in the ever-evolving landscape of workplace flexibility.

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What's Next?

Flex Index will continue publishing the data so many people rely on while improving both methodology and user experience.

I've added you to the Flex Index newsletter for deeper dives into this data—feel free to unsubscribe if it's not your cup of tea. The free weekly newsletter will continue, and starting in Q3, paid subscribers will get deeper access to full quarterly reports and occasional deep-dives.

Special launch offer: Subscriptions are normally $8 monthly or $80 annually, but sign up this month for just $50 for your first year.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on this acquisition and any ideas for future Flex Index features or reports. You can comment here or drop me a line at brian@workforward.com!

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