'I'll Quit If They Make Me Go Back': The Real Stakes of the 'Future of Work' Debate As companies decide how, when and where they should work in a post-pandemic world, it's essential to keep an emphasis on company culture.

We had a group of friends over for dinner the other day, and the conversation turned to work, as it sometimes does. "I can't wait to go back to the office," said one friend, who works at a technology company. "No way," said another, who works at a midsize law firm. "I'll quit if they make me go back."

"Well," piped in a friend who leads a customer experience team, "I think what we really need is flexibility. I'm exhausted. My team is exhausted. I know our customers can tell, and it's starting to hurt the business."

Our friends around the table nodded. This, we realized, was the real stakes of the debate. People have spent the past year and a half arguing over whether remote work would remain permanent, but that has largely ignored a more existential question. This isn't just an issue of how people work — it's that the way people work impacts their customers, and whether those customers stay loyal.